#and she left a decent amount of cash

[rosicheeks]

🤧

[plasticfangtastic]

Dairy Girl

A Homelander X F! Reader fanfic

A/N: I am still working on my other projects but I just wanted to write something fun and light to get me back into writing. I hope y'all enjoy this short little piece, btw i aint got no kids so i have very little idea how milk banks work, this will be a 2 or 3 part story.

Synopsis: In order to provide a constant supply of fresh breastmilk for Vought’s number one hero, Vought has had to get quite nifty in order to prevent this secret desire out the press and the public– you have unfortunately discovered the truth.

Tags: Stockholm Syndrome, abusive dynamic, Homelander being Homelander, dub-con, dark, mild smut, breastfeeding kink, kidnapping, child-death mention tw, cheating tw, set in s4 but canon nothing, slow burn.

Word Count: 3K

Part 1– Heifer

Such a small box, smaller than a shoe box, just big enough to fit its contents with enough space for his ghost to move. You stared at the small box as its buried in the family plot… you never thought of visiting this place to ever bury the last shred of happiness you had left, his body was born weak, so small you wonder if you’d given birth to a child or a chick, 2 months ago you had come home to find your now ex in bed with his ex, he had turned this betrayal on its head and blamed you for it, something about your lack of desire lately, about how your pregnancy had given him amounts of pressures he'd never agreed with, talking endlessly about his needs and how much you’d ignored him.

Whoever this man was, you didn’t recognize him.

Time blurred into nothing but disconnected colors and shapes, all you know was that the stress and anguish lead to this.

A box under soil.

Days passed and in your empty apartment, surrounded by all the stuff you bought you stood in front of the sink, throwing a bottle of fresh milk down the drain feeling tremendous guilt, the doctor said you would dry out soon enough but your breast had swollen so much your bras no longer fit– even the spare ones you bought just in case they’ve grown a size too big from what you expected, you booked an appointment with your doctor hoping they could give you whatever cocktail of drugs to dry you out and save you from the pressure and pain in your chest, it had been nothing but a passing message from a worried neighbor who had stop by to give you some mail that had been sent to them by accident when she mentioned her daughter-in-law had donated her excess milk after her little one refused to latch, she gave you the name of the charity and after much thinking you gave in, you lost your baby but there was some woman out there who could end up experiencing your same grief if their baby starved to death, yours simply born too small and weak to hold your finger for very long.

It felt good, you met the women running the charity and even some of the faces of the women you helped, as you delivered your frozen packs to the women’s clinic where the charity operated, it helped you heal, it gave your pain purpose, but as the months faded behind you a part of you worried about how much you keep producing, less than before but still too much, yet you keep going knowing it would end soon enough. 

Perhaps somebody in the clinic or the charity had dropped your information to these people but you'd received some mail regarding some research trials Vought International was running and how they needed some donors to drop fresh samples, in their pamphlet they offered to pay a decent amount--your divorce had been costly plus having to move to a new place and breaking your previous lease had left your bank account quite dry, this was cheap money, you had given your milk for free, you looked at the few pouches you had collected for next week's drop you saw a wonderful opportunity to make some quick cash.

You went to the Vought Clinic and saw a few other women filling up forms, reading old magazines or dilly-dallying on their phones until some nurse called their numbers, you filled the medical form, waited less than half an hour before your number was called, brought into a small bleach scented room, the nurse read your form and told you she would take a blood sample, a doctor came in, reciting whatever script he’d been given about what this project was, giving you big words you had no interest in, this was about providing better milk formulas closer to natural milk than anything currently in the market apparently, thanking you for your donation, he looked at your form smiling as he saw your inked words.

“You're still producing 4 months after…” The doctor handed you a disinfecting wipe and a freshly steamed breast pump in a silver tray– we just need two samples, please press the alarm to let us know you’d finished, then follow Nurse Potts to the front counter to sort out your payment.”

It had been an awkward experience, but there you were 300 dollars richer, you probably should’ve read those papers a bit closer before signing but money was money and you were told to come back if you could.

You did it a couple times for 2 months, much like a man donating sperm for pocket money or plasma to pay the rent.

That was the first mistake, you headed home and woke up the morning after wishing you had stayed out for an extra hour or two, perhaps caved in to your friends pressures and tried going back to dating (after all your ex was whoring himself all across the lower east side without moral qualms) or hookups so you would had gone to a different address, maybe you should had taken a taxi instead of taking the train and walking home.

Regardless you woke in some strange empty room, the only thing beside your person was a pair of pale pink hospital gowns, grippy socks, clean underwear and a pair of thick large towels, you screamed and banged on the door for an ungodly amount of time but nobody ever came, you stayed alone in that room for what could have been 12 hours or more… maybe less… who knew it was all too much, suddenly a sharp sound cut into the silence a note had been slid under the door, you rushed to the note.

It was instructions, they wanted you wearing their clean clothes, you could not leave the room unless you did so, and as much as you hated the idea, you wanted to get out so badly, you knew if you wanted to escape your only chance came in knowing your surroundings, you begrudgingly and tearfully changed, waiting until anything changed– the doors hissed opened, a woman in a sharp cream coloured suit stood there with clipboard and an armed guard, at the sight of the heavy looking gun– you froze.

Then you took the first step towards hell.

You knew the following things: You lived in some basement area– there were no windows, only elevators. You weren’t alone, there were other women here and they made sure to keep your interactions at minimum no doubt to keep all of you submissive and not getting any ideas, sometimes familiar faces will fade and you could only speculate nightmares. Lastly… your purpose, the reason you were trapped here in the first place was… to lactate.

A plucky little thing that stayed optimistic despite your shared horror called herself a ‘Heifer’ she wasn’t wrong… you lived in a small cell where everything had sat on top of each other feed to keep fat and producing milk much like a cow, whoever developed this diet knew of all the ingredients known to help production, and you knew there were putting something else in the food for your breast begun to feel uncomfortable, for a little while you thought you could fight it by starving yourself, then two men with guns came into the room and told you to eat or else.

The time you spend outside this microflat hong-kong style cell was in the milking room and the shower room, you were ordered to stay clean and quiet, at least in the milking room you had some television and could spend time with the other women, but they keep you isolated, you could do very little, sometimes music would play and a book would be dropped with your food but your happiness wasn’t priority, you had to fill a quota.

After a couple weeks of this you simply accepted defeat, too many guns… not enough spaces to run, and nothing to come home to… a man that wanted to sue you for more feeling as if the judge had been unfair, a pestering family who acted as if they had been the only ones who experience loss, an empty cot you still hadn’t gotten rid off and piles and piles of bills, in this quiet cool room you had spend endless hours thinking, you didn’t love your job, you had been distant from most of your friends and you could only imagine that they assumed you had run away or killed yourself after what happened nobody could blame you.

Existing for the sake of existing until you could figure out what to do next.

“Good Evening… I’m glad you’re eating so well” The lady you met the first day said as the door hissed open, she watched you like a hawk as you process this sudden interruption, clutching at your paper thin blanket, you looked at the floral fabric in her arms and the clipboard under her arm– I need you to sign this before you’re allowed upstairs”

“Am I being let out?” You said anxiously, no way it could be that easy you thought.

The lady let her smile waiver, looking at the unseen guard then at her wrist watch as she handed you the clipboard.

“Your performance might determine how soon you'll be release…”

“You assume I won’t go to the police…”

“That wouldn’t be wise Miss L/N but we assure you that you’ll be sufficiently compensated for the inconvenience.”

You wanted to yell, but a voice in the back of your head thought of this but nothing but pageantry, you were dead either way, but perhaps this could be your opportunity to escape, whatever they wanted to do now meant being outside of these buried walls, you signed the sheet without thinking, briefly considered stabbing the bitch in the eye but is likely they would turn you into swiss cheese before you even took a step too close, she took the paperwork from your hands and in change handed you a long sleeved dressed straight out of the mormon section in target, she closed the door and you dressed up.

The halls looked so odd when you didn’t wear your prison clothes, the other few doors housed sleeping and bored girls, your plucky friend hidden behind one of them, the new girl hidden behind one of them and the girl you seen before in the milking room once hid behind one of them.

They took you to an elevator– it was old box, if you had to guess by the button’s design maybe built in the late or mid 70s, you never left their side until the elevator closed before them, the box moved slowly, a dingy silver box with low honey coloured lights, so dim… and you were alone, as the light chime as it went up you felt your entire being sink into your stomach, your heart beating so fast you were sure you were gonna have a heart attack before the doors opened once again, swallowing dry spit, your eyes opened so wide it hurt.

Quiet… it was so quiet when the doors opened, you expected something else, something menacing… something frightening– not an old house, an old house in the middle of some evergreen forest, everything screams old, untouched, museum like, like it's meant to present this idea that somebody lives here but not really, despite it being an elevator hidden behind a bookcase, you take a few cautious steps, your naked feet bury in the plush carpet, there’s bird singing outside and the sun is so bright and warm it hurts your eyes, the cool tones gone and this feels like a bad dream, pinching yourself but you’re awake, tragically awake, a weird wiry smile creeps on your lips, an almost laugh escapes your lips before you can feel tears burning your eyes.

“Hello…?” You ask and you don’t know why.

As you venture into the living room, hands firm against the tacky dark pink wallpaper, you found old floral couches that matched the drapes and despite how old school it was it had a charm to it.

Then you saw him.

Perusing the VHS collection filled the entire bookcase on the wall, just rows and rows of VHS boxes, some plastic and some cardboard, the TV boxy and just as antiquated but who cared— he was there.

You ran before you even realized you done it, crashing into him with desperation, tears staining your cheeks and you could barely breath as you tried so hard to speak.

“Homelander please help me!! I’ve been kidnapped!! Please!!” You cried, pulling on his suit– please!!”

Those endlessly blue eyes more poison dart hide than veronica flower bush the more they stared at you calmly, his lips into a thin smile and his hand thad taken your wrist inflicting just enough force to keep you firmly in his grip… to show you how he wasn’t an ordinary man, he looked at you as your tears changed meaning as if you were the most unfortunate creature he’d ever seen, his lips parted just enough to show those sharp canines that had looked so charming in sidewalk posters, now you could sense their presence squeezing at your jugular.

“You are so much prettier in person, Y/N.” His voice is disturbingly soft and calm, intimately quiet as he takes a whiff of your neck, moving you to make it easier, his free hand creeped towards your hip– I was so glad when I saw your picture and you weren’t hideous.”

Trembling against him, a nonexistent cold draft blew against you, your whole body shivering and covered in goosebumps.

His eyes fixated in your breast, mouth agape as his tongue dared to lick his lip, watching you like a starved man at a las vegas buffet, his hand slithering upwards, you know where this is leading, you can’t stop crying but you can’t scream either, you're just there as his hand avoids your breasts and creeps towards your back and presses your bodies together.

“I’m so glad you signed that sheet, I was getting sad endlessly waiting for one of you to agree to the deal” He says quietly, you stare at him and you realize you should’ve actually read that stupid sheet– why so scared? I ain’t gonna bite.” He bites the air as a joke and you could tell that that single bite could have torn your finger off cleanly.

His eyes shift to your clinging fingers that stayed so stiff against his padded suit, you stopped squeezing at him now they rested limp against him.

“Let’s watch a movie…” 

It’s an awkward dance concluding in sitting down on a couch, its surprisingly soft and you’re sinking on the cushion while your mind dissolved in the sky, the coffee table had a humbled spread of snacks, pizza and milkshakes, not once did you notice, you stared at him clutching at your dress as he picked something out of the shelve, watching as his hand worked the VHS player, the clicks and whirling all you could focus on. He sat beside you as the speakers began to play the included trailers, he took the drink urging you to do the same with a menacing look, filling you with incomplete thoughts as you obeyed.

Malt vanilla marinated in your tongue, you had a terrible thought.

‘Milk’ 

You were there to provide milk… to whom? Why just milk? You thought they would sell your body or your organs, experiment on you but… they wanted your milk, but who was buying it? Who was drinking it? Where did it go? You stared at the pretty blond whose arm kept your shoulders still, you saw the news– you’d known he had a child and who knows with whom but his kid was old enough to not need it… was it for him? You thought… thinking of it as ridiculous until you remember how 20 minutes ago  he was staring at your tits as if he was malnourished, you looked at his lips pursing as he took a long sip of his milkshake and wonder if that was milk… from a cow… not a heifer like you.

Homelander smiled at you.

“I don’t like ‘The mothman prophecy’ , never been a Richard Gere fan” he said casually.

“He was really good in ‘Pretty Woman’ . This one is okay…” You looked at the screen your voice so stiff– what’s going on…? Mr. Homelander… I…"

“Shhh… watch the movie” He leaned against you resting his head on your shoulder– you tasted the best… every batch perfection– such delicate custardy taste… So this is what we are gonna do… I’ll keep you in this floor so you’re not so bored ."

You swear he’s purring as he rubs himself against you marking you as much as he was making himself comfortable.

“There’s cameras everywhere… The glass is bulletproof, doors won’t open without a fob and code, and there’s no phones or internet, but if you do manage to get out of here just be aware I’ll know.” He said such terrible things as if it was nothing– if you tried to off yourself there will be 3 armed guards and nurses here in less than a minute but if you behave I promise you– you’ll be allowed out, but only if you gain my trust.” He looks up at you as you focus on those thin lips of his– there’s no kitchen but your meals will be delivered… if you want anything just tell the camera over there.”

He pointed at the corner tucked in between two VHS tapes was a small camera.

“I like you Y/N you're cute… you’ll behave for me, right?”

You nodded, too afraid to disagree.

“Now… let’s finish the movie… I actually like this part”

You stared at the pizza box, you could at least tell that the pizza was from an american restaurant, which made you feel safe ‘Select Pizza and Grill” said in the box and you knew you were somewhere in Pennsylvania, far from your apartment in Clinton Hill.

You looked at your boobs feeling his piercing gaze on them, you started drawing lines connecting weird things together, back when you were donating your milk, girls joked about people buying for medicinal and fetish purposes, this spelled itself out for you.

Maybe you could get out of here… but you had to do something weird… but as you heard the birds outside and the warm light peeked into the room, you realized maybe you could leave… no you’ll leave, you’ll go back home and you would find a way to ruin this man and those bastards beneath you, you’ll get them out too, so you took one courageous breath and forced a smile on your dried lips.

“You really liked it?”

“Huh?”

“My milk…” You mumbled– you know I never tasted it myself but am glad to get a review.”

“It’s really tasty” he bites his lip.

Your hand plays with one of the buttons on the dress.

“It hurts a bit… I usually get asked to pump around this time… dunno if you know this but it's a bit painful when they get this swollen.”

The look in his eyes told you everything you needed to know and as you leaned away from him pulling on buttons with slightly trembling fingers, you watched him follow your movements like a snake chasing prey.

“Would you help me out, mister superhero?” Is not flirty but is slightly playful and you’re surprised that you can lie that well, he’s so shameless as he shakes his head enthusiastically, mouth opening for you– please don’t bite.”

He gasps as you let him see all that he’d wanted from the get go, why he put you in that box, why you ended up in this place for.

His body was lighter than you thought as he sunk against you-- eyes closed, body limp against yours, he made the softest sounds it put you at ease somehow, for a moment you saw a very small being latched on your chest, you’d only experienced it once before, and it was seared into your mind as a painful yet tender memory, so you close your eyes dreaming of a fantasy far removed from this peculiar reality, half lid eyes found a man so blissed out your lips curved, this was unbelievable, the world most famous supe keeping you hostage just so you could indulged him.

But you knew now… that this was your way out.

[yaut-jaknowit]

Hello:D

Okay but MxM: imagine there’s like a ‘peace’ treaty between humans and Yautja and some interspecies programs are set up, and a Yautja and a human who absolutely despise each other get teamed up, absolutely bully each other and then one begins to realise it’s sexual tension not hate and they just end up fucking on the job🗣️🔥

Thick As A Knife

Pairings: Celtic (Male Yautja) x AMAB!Reader

Word Count: 6300 (Whoop! Ten pages)

Summary: This was all your friend's fault. Sign up for the treaty, he said. It'll be fun, he said. It's not like you would've gotten picked. Until you received a phone call one day. The only reason you don't say no was the fact of the pay. The pay.

Author Note: This... this unfortunately isn't one of my best works. I don't feel very proud of it but I can't find the energy to redo. I'm so sorry, dude, I tried my best. I hope it still works for you though! I tried to make it decent by using your favorite man's.

Masterlist

Ao3

Out of everyone that was offered as a sacrifice, er, sorry. That was placed into the program, you had been one that was chosen. One of your friends put your name into the gamble just for the fun of it alongside herself. Look at what’s happening now.

All of your stuff was pulled from your apartment and placed into a shipping container. Where it will be taken to an interspecies ship that was the first of its kind. Not only will that happen, but apparently you’re going to be placed with the species you hated. A species who was completely uncivilized. They call humans primitive but strut around half naked in fishnets. If there wasn’t a good amount of cash that’s being deposited into your account as you say, there was no way in hell you would let this happen. Not if you’re going to trapped in a space with the Yautjas.

A scoff left your lips, eyes rolling. This was unbelievable. Space travel wasn’t shiny new, but it’s not like you’ve been outside of earth’s atmosphere before. That’s when your leg began to shake, bouncing up and down in a rapid motion.

So far, there’s been no incidents. That included both the ship you’ll be residing on and with the new friendly Yautjas your government decided to friend. It was best to keep your enemies close, keep an eye on them. Yet, here they are, sticking you to a randomly picked alien as well. The two of you had one thing in common. Forced by your governments to follow their commands.

The door to the shipping unit shut before your very eyes and locked away all your possessions. Your lips pressed into a thin line.

Over on the street, a black car pulled into the parking lot. The windows completely blacked out. All you could see was your own reflection staring back at you. Then, the tinted window rolled down to reveal a woman dressed in a suit. She reminded you of the movie Men In Black with the black glasses. Once again, you couldn’t see here eyes.

She motioned towards the front see you were meant to take. With one more glance to what could be the last time you may see your apartment, you opened the door and slid in. The shipping container was left behind for someone to come pick and take to your new home. Thinking about it was making it more of a reality in your mind. Your leg began to twitch again.

All the way to the launch site, the driver kept silent. Her glasses provided the perfect barrier from seeing her eyes and getting a read on her. You wrung out your fingers while they sat in your lap the entire car ride.

About three hours had passed before she turned onto what looked to be an abandoned road. It was strictly gravel. This wasn’t what you were expecting to be the grand entrance to a new life in space. You watched as low hills passed on either side of the car. She wasn’t in much of a rush, carefully about how bumpy the backroad was.

The car came over a hill. On the other side sat a small, navy blue vessel. A vessel that resembled the ships many of the Yautjas used. Your mood soured immediately, ruined by the reminder of where you were going. Your muscles grew tense. Unsaid words entered the air and filled it with tension that the driver could feel.

When the vehicle came to halt, the process was swift. You were given a quick brief of how to act and what to do while on this ship. It practically went into one ear and out the other. Honestly, you tried to listen, tried to be a good sacrifice. But with the situation, you stopped caring. If only they were the ones going to be stuck with the brute of an alien for however long they pleased. There were no set times. Just a paycheck in the mail every two weeks you are there. A good paycheck that had you mostly compliant.

After everything was said and done, they ushered you towards this navy blue vessel. A ramp lowered down at your presence. It felt like a scene from Star Wars. The hiss of steam before a ramp revealed the inside of this ship. As a human, your curiosity was screaming at you, wanting to figure out everything that made this thing tick. You were becoming part of the first group of humans to enter space. Though, with the aid of another species. It was still a feat that wasn’t achievable in this manner until now.

They showed you up the ramp before leaving you in the middle of a small gathering room. The ship itself wasn’t massive by any means. Just a carrier ship for short travel.

Towards the front of the vessel was the cockpit. At first, you missed the figure but your eyes snapped back to him.

From limited pictures, you could still tell this was that Yautja, that unfortunate partner you’ve been paired with. They call him Celtic. It almost gave him a sort of human side to him but immediately narrowed your eyes on the figure. He was your ride? You internally scoffed and fought off the want to cross your arms. That would look bad on your part. And that paycheck was looking really, really nice.

The brute of a man stood up. Never in your life had you been around one of them before. They don’t come to earth. Not unless they hunted before the treaty. That didn’t happen much anymore, unless someone offered themselves up for the hunt. That was part of the deal the government made with the Yautjas.

And he was tall and thick. He had to be at least three times your mass. His sensor dreads weren’t extremely long. They were a dark black, signaling his young age. You were surprised his government had sent someone on the younger side to be part of the treaty. Yet, here you were as well.

A forced smile cracked at your features. It felt more like a grimace. Celtic stopped in front of you and tilted his head down, bright yellow eyes peering into your very soul. It became a staring contest, trying to find the weakness in each other. Whatever you could get to make sure you had the upper hand. He was a beast, a species that knows no mercy. You hated the fact that you had been roped into those by your friend. There was no backing out. All you could do was endure this for however long it was necessary. Get the money, get out. Simple as that.

His mandibles flickered, tongue darting out to taste the air. “You are not what I was expecting,” he speaks in a slower voice. A proper speech as if he just recently learned English. It took a lot of will not to cross your arms and drop the façade at his words. This is part of the reason you disliked this species as a whole. They were all the same. There was no difference between any of them. They all had that rude attitude. It irked you so much too.

Your hand curled into a fist at your sides. You clicked your tongue, eyes roaming from head to toe in a careless manner. “And you’re not as high skilled as I thought you would be,” your snarked and relaxed your grip. It would be best not show your emotions as much to these guys.

One thing you knew about these guys was where to hurt them. Their pride and hunting skills. Hit either of those and they will show they don’t like to be challenged. It didn’t matter what sex, both sex’s aren’t going to back down from a challenge. Especially one they know that could be won. One against a weak ooman that’s defenseless. You read up on some of their culture. To make sure you had everything in your power to survive this to the disastrous end. The people with the white wigs didn’t know a lick about what happens below their boot.

Just think of the money.

The way his eyes darkened, mandibles pulling tight over his alien mouth. Nothing needed to be said that you got under his skin. You held back a proudful smirk and kept your eyes narrowed on his towering figure.

Celtic scoffed then spun on his heel before strutting into the cockpit. You let the grin crack your façade wide open. Ah, that was lovely. You meandered after him and peered into the new space. It wasn’t spacious by any means, but it held the most important pieces to fly the craft. Despite your smug feelings, you were in awe at the incredible technology shift. You hid it before taking a seat to the left of him. The Yautja didn’t even glance in your direction.

Ah, you had really hit him where it hurt. Good. He’s probably killed one of your kind. He deserved it.

Underneath you, the ship rumbled, and the engines flared to life. It was powerful to be inside of such a thing. Your grin flickered onto your features for only a second. This wasn’t the time. You shoved it down to the pit of your stomach and gripped onto the armrests. This was your first time launching into space, leaving earths atmosphere. There was no way to stop the thundering of your heart.

Earth’s ground left the landing gear’s feet. You leaned forward in your seat to peer over the edge of console to look out the window. Once a hundred feet in the air, Celtic rapidly presses a few buttons then grabbed a lever. You had no time to react when he punched it. The force sent you flying back into the seat with a soft ‘oof’. The air in your lungs was pushed out but you quickly regained control.

He pressed forward and tilted the craft into a climb. Clouds whooshed passed the window. A sight you’ve never got to see before, even when flying. It continued to push higher and higher into the sky. Soon the day sky turned into night in a matter of a minute. Without light pollution of the cities, the stars were free to shine as brightly as they wished. You leaned forward in awe. The sight beyond anything you’d experienced before.

The craft leveled out without the fighting force of earth’s gravity to pull it down. The lack of gravity pulled at your stomach. Nausea washed over you for a few moments. Then, everything returned to normal. Your grip still clung to the armrests of the co-pilot’s chair. It would take an act of God to get you to loosen up. Fear wasn’t the contributing factor but the unknown of the whole situation made you feel unease. You’ve seen plenty of pictures and 3D models of the vessel you’ll be staying in. That’s fake over the rude awaking of the real world. It was really happening.

A moment passed when your gaze returned to the open vast space. In front of the ship, far away, was the forementioned ship. Your jaw slackened at the size. It rivaled a football field or cruise ship easily. Without any indicator, it was difficult to tell. There was nothing in space to compare it to, to see how big it really was. But it was huge.

That’s where you were going to be staying. A fact you didn’t have hit you in the fact until now. Celtic flew the ship closer to what’s called a mother ship. It’s a hub, per se. It’s where a clan would live and could maintain one as well. Similar to a tiny planet.

With practice ease, Celtic pulls the ship in the docking portion of the ship. He lands nearly perfect with only a bounce then shuts down all the engines. A new silence washes over the two of you. Celtic is up and out of his seat without a word. The lumbering form expertly spins on his heel once up and marches towards the back of the carrier vessel you were in. You jolted at the sudden abandonment and rushed after him like a stumbling fool. “What that fuck!? Wait up for me,” you yelled at him and barely made it to him when the ramp had touched the ground.

There he goes again.

Long strides take him down the ramp. You tsked to yourself and raced after his fleeing form. Clearly, he dislikes your presence. That’s makes two of you.

You ran into his back with grunt and stumbled back. Right as you were about to yell at him for that, a throat clearing stopped you in your tracks. You peered around Celtics form to find three well decorated Yautjas standing in front of him. An ‘oh shit’ moment slapped you straight in the face. Your lips pressed into a thin line.

To look like less than a fool, you calmly stepped out from behind him and stood with your shoulders squared. Four pairs of eyes were set onto your form. You recalled from the information given to you, to not stare into their eyes. It can be seen as a challenge. Something you would never, ever want to deal with. You respectfully bowed your head in their direction, understanding they are at least elders. A high rank amongst their culture. To piss them off meant a death sentence.

One of them called your name and drew your timid gaze to the trio. You are respectful to let your eyes flicker between them or towards the ground.

“We are pleased to see you’ve joined us,” the one to your left politely greets you, mandibles slowly stretching out. “This is a wonderful opportunity for both of our communities to learn from this experience.” You had to shut off your throat to stop a scoff from escaping in their faces. They learned plenty from all the times they visited.

The middle one, an earthy green tone, dips his head a centimeter. “Yes. It is a great experience for all parties. As for your stay, you aren’t obligated to stay. You are no prisoner but a guest amongst the Yautja. If an issue arises, don’t be afraid to reach out to the three of us. We want to ensure you make it off of the mother ship alive.” The joke is crude but seems a normal thing for them.

They all chuckle in a short manner. “Your quarters are different compared to normal ones onboard. You are stationed with Celtic here, as he is your partner for this. There are two separate rooms. He will be your guide throughout all of this,” the one on your right spoke up. “Your things shall arrive at the end of the cycle. We wish the best of luck towards the both of you.”

All of them glanced at Celtic for a fleeting moment before leaving you to him. Celtic watched as the elders left the docking area. The second they were out of sight, he started a fast pace in a certain direction. You were left to scamper after him all over again. You gritted your teeth and practically ran to catch up to him.

“Seriously, wait up! I’m not as tall as you,” you snapped at the still retreating frame. Your legs moved as fast as they could to catch up to him. Celtic didn’t even glance down at you and kept the same speedy pace towards a certain direction.

With the knowledge of how long it will take for your unit to make it up here, you were stuck with the clothes on your back and the phone in your pocket. Nothing else. You grumbled under your pants while forced to jog next to the strutting male. He was fast, you’ll have to give him that. Celtic walked with purpose towards an elevator. The doors opened at your approach. He entered and spun on his heel to face the entrance. His eyes didn’t even flicker in your general direction. They stared out into the open space of the docking port. You barely made it inside in time before the doors closed and sealed your fate with him.

All the way to the desired floor, Celtic was silent. The gears inside of his head were working overtime. You didn’t need to know him long to see what was happening. Not that you cared. There wasn’t a chance you would care about him. Not in a million years.

In a flash, the male was out the door and down the hall. A growl left your throat. You chased after him and slipped past other roaming Yautjas. Some gave you glares while other completely ignored you, unless you ran into them. Then, a threatening snarl would work its way to your ears. You were swift to get out of their way and flail to keep up with Celtic. He was doing this on purpose. There were no doubts about that. All you wanted was to go to the designated room and call it a night. Today’s been filled with plenty of excitement, including packing everything important to your everyday activities. You didn’t know how long you were going to be here. It was best to be prepared.

Celtic stopped in his tracks. Right at the moment you caught up to him. You bumped into his side with your shoulder. A pointed look was thrown at you. Instead of cowering like you would’ve to any other Yautja, you sneered and challenged him silently to do something. Sure, have this whole treaty situation go up in arms right off the bat. You didn’t care. There was a paycheck sitting happily in your bank account. One nice enough to keep you content for a while.

The alien paused his actions from entering the room and crowded into your space. Despite being one-third of his mass and weight, you kept up the challenge and rose on your tippy toes. His bright eyes darkened at the sight. The lower two of his mandibles twitched in thought. The upper ones were pulled tight over his mouth. Your muscles were locked, ready for whatever he decided to throw at you. You weren’t going to let him or anyone else push you around. Especially, him.

Even when he got so close his stomach pressed against your chest, you didn’t waver. Something in his eyes flickered but you held strong. Number one rule in their culture, don’t back down from a fight. Especially so quickly, it makes you look weak and pathetic. You weren’t either of those. You weren’t going to be that.

The two of you stayed like this for a long time. People passed by. Some glancing at the strange sight while other just ignored the scene as if it was normal. But, it was him who faltered.

His eyes rolled in such a human manner you did a double take. A grumble left his throat while he turned away and strolled into the room. You dumbly stood there for a few moments before rushing inside. Just before the door closed shut and sealed off your new space to the rest of the mother ship. You halted in the foyer and glanced around the areas you could see.

This wasn’t what you were expecting. Though, this was a treaty of alliance and such, you weren’t expecting just a large space.

There were at least three doors you could see from your stop in the main entrance. Everything seemed polished down to the modules and made everything perfect. You slowly meander further inside. There was a kitchen, a decent sized one. A dining room as well; as if you were going to have diner with Celtic, let alone share a meal with him.

All you could speculate about the closed doors were those were the bedrooms and a bathroom. There was also a living room as well. Plenty of space to house a party. You huffed and turned towards him.

“Have you chosen a room or…?” you trailed off in hopes of an answer from him. He blinked at you then disappeared into one of the bedrooms without a word. Anger flared to life. You wanted to wring his neck. Instead, you walked into the only other available room and sat down on the mattress. It was extremely low to the ground. By the looks of it, it almost seemed like it was sunken into the floor. Your legs were kicked out straight in front of you.

Out of everything, this wasn’t what you were expecting. From a life on a planet, you were content with the space offered to you. The people on the other hand. That wasn’t something you were fond of. In all honesty, you wanted to smack him so hard he could see straight. Yet, you refrained from violence on the first.

And the second. Then, the third. Until the days began to blur together that point.

It wasn’t hard to keep track though. Out of everything though, the only thing that was exciting or adrenaline pumping was being dragged to the front of the ship. Straight to the captains cockpit to do a video call back home. You preformed a few briefings with your agents or point of contact. Nothing besides that was entertaining.

Celtic was still pissed at you. He kept his distance far from you as much as possible. Unless the two of you are called upon to speak before the important figures of this whole operation. That’s really when you would only talk to each other and truly see one another. Any other time, he’s either out with his hunt brothers or in his room.

As the only lone human on this alien ship, you’ve cornered yourself into the room. The door was locked most of the time and kept you safe from the monsters you were surrounded by. Food was the only time you freely came out. The need to feed so you didn’t starve was a necessity. You would busy yourself during that time. Even if Celtic came in to the shared apartment, he would go straight to his space. Not a word even uttered in your general direction.

One day, the male came in. Unlike every other time he’s been here, he stopped at the island in the kitchen. Celtic bent over the island and rested on his elbows, eyes watching your every move about. You grew anxious, unsure whether he meant harm or not. Not that he ever has shown he wanted to cause you injury, but you couldn’t help this feeling deep inside of you.

After another minute goes by, you tensed up and spun around on your heel. “What in the world is your problem?!” you snapped at him and pointed the spatula in your hand at him. A brow arches. You motioned with the object in hand for him to move along. “Shoo, let me cook in peace.” He continued to stare at you. You narrowed your eyes at him and pressed your lips into a tight, thin line. Apparently, he didn’t have anything better to do at this moment. Your gaze flickered down his body, taking in the sight of the lack of clothes that adorned him. His muscular body easily on display without any remorse. Like the dumbass you are, you stared longer than you meant to.

Celtic just stayed there. A sigh left your lips. You grumbled under your breath before slowly turning back around to face the stove. It wasn’t like you could anything to make him move if he didn’t. The Yautja was three times your mass. It would be easy to figure out how well that would turn out to be without even needing to see anything occur.

The entire time, his eyes stayed on you. The hunk stood in the same spot, not even wavering. Just a predator watching… his prey. You shuttered at the thought and quickened your pace. The faster you finished the process, the faster you could get into your room. Away from him and weirdness happening right now.

Your food was nearly done. The burner was shut off. It smelled like heaven. If one thing about this time away from home has taught you something, how to truly cook. When you have nothing else to do, cooking is a great experience to have under your belt.

Large, warm hands grasped at your hips, nearly encircling your entire waist. A gasp tore from your throat. Your hands braced onto the edge of the stove when a weight pinned you in pace.

An inner instinct deep down commanded you to stay put. You gingerly peeked over your shoulder. Celtic, in all of his glory, stood there. A rumbling purr poured from his throat. A noise that had your muscles relaxing underneath him. You bowed your head and huffed. “What… what is your problem?” you grounded out.

Claws dented your shirt. “You.” The weight shifted. The stove’s edge dug into your stomach, further proving his strength against you. You gritted your teeth at the slight ache that gave you.

He bowed his spine to hover his mouth next to your head. “You’ve been my problem. This entire time. You’ve driven me insane.” The long, forked, pink tongue flickered out to taste the air. “It’s been impossible to keep my hands still every time I get a whiff of you. You’re ooman. I shouldn’t even like you. This is all for formality.”

The grip tightened. His face inched closer to the crook of your neck. “I’ve imagined plenty of times about how I should go about this. But I can’t take it. I need you, little prey.” You shuttered out a whimpered and clenched your jaw tightly. By god’s grace, you shouldn’t be entertaining this, letting him even touch you. The feel of his hands on you was amazing.

Then, you steeled your emotions. One of your elbows strikes him in the exposed side and send him stepping back away from you. A firm look graced your features when you spun around to face Celtic.

In his bent over state, he picked up his head to find your fierce gaze. You whipped out a hand. Your fingers encircled his throat. With whatever power that drove you, you pushed his form back. He was forced back until the couch caught his legs. The towering figure tipped over and landed onto the cushions you. A grin cracked your features. You climbed into his lap and straddled his large hips. Everything about him was larger than life. It would be a challenge, but you didn’t care. Not at this point.

Your hand still held tightly onto his throat. Celtic looked at your commanding form and let you take control. “Guess what, you’ve been my problem this entire time too. Being a bitch every time I do something.” You sat up higher and made him look up at you slightly. “I’ve wanted nothing more than to wring out your neck. You standing around like a weirdo, with this sculpted body.”

Bright, yellow eyes watched your every move. The Yautja was intrigued with what you were doing. Your other hand palmed at his abs to make your point to him.

A deep grumbled escaped his throat, vibrating against your palm. “And what are you going to do about it?” he challenged, a glint filling his eyes.

Instantly, your anger flared wider than a solar flare. You leaned in close enough to feel the breath of his. “I’m going to rip off your fucking pants,” you said more as a question rather than a statement. You wanted his consent, hoping not to be reading off the wrong signs of this whole situation. That would make this ten times worse than before.

One of his mandibles quirked up. “Best of luck, little prey.” Your teeth grounded against one another. He chuckled nonchalantly. You ripped your hand off his throat and used both to unbuckle his pants. It was easy to figure out how they open and tugged them down enough to expose the slick slit of his sheath.

This was something you weren’t going to admit but you did some research on their anatomy. They had a sheath compared to everything hanging out, including internal testicles. You were jealous of their anatomy and wish humans had that.

A smirk broke across your features. “What’s this I see? Mister high and mighty is aroused from a little human being dominate, isn’t that right?” you taunted the beast of an alien underneath you. Your thumb ran along the wetness of his slit and barely pressed against it.

Two hands grasped at your hips again and pulled you down to grind against his groin. You choked on a gasp and slapped your hands down on his shoulders. Celtic rutted his hips up against your clothed crotch. Immediately, your dick began to stir to life, hidden away in your pants. A bulge began to form at the stimulation.

“Does the little human think he can take charge? When I could easily pin you down and take you on the floor like some animal?” Celtic snarled and tilted your hips just enough so the side of your cock rubbed against his open pants. You bit the inside of your cheek to prevent a moan from escaping. Pleasure raced up the base of your spine. “Pants. Off. Now.” There was a slight hint in his voice that gave you the chance to back out.

You struggled out of your pants until they were on the floor. Your cock was erect and throbbing at the lack of attention.

The Yautja purred at the sight, hands palming at your exposed thighs. Long, black claws dragged across the skin and left behind red marks in their wake. He grasped the globes of your ass and lifted you up against his chest. You scrambled to hold onto his shoulders for purchase. The length of your cock rubbed against the muscle of his torso. Your toes curled at the feeling of pleasure again.

He used both hands to spread your cheeks wide. You were forced to lean against him for support and gazed down at him. “Now, do you want this knot inside of you or not?” You took the hint to reach down and encircled your hand around his pulsing cock. It was hot to the touch and wet from his shaft.

The pointed head poked at your exposed hole. You couldn’t stop the way you tensed at the feeling. He was large in stature and size. There was without a doubt this would hurt. But you wanted it. To teach him a lesson. Because fuck him. You were about to. You gritted your teeth then sank down.

Only the head was able to fit on the first try. Your body desperately wanted to curl in on itself when the ache hit you hard. It took all of your power not to. The beast snarled, claws digging into your malleable flesh and created dents in your skin. But, he didn’t notice nor cared. Celtic used his superior strength to force you down while also thrusting his hips up.

Skin slapping against echoed in the shared space around the two of you. A high-pitched keen left your cracked lips. You leaned back to rest your hands on his thighs and hold on. In his eyes, a dangerous looked entered them. You clenched around the intrusion inside of you. His irises darkened. His grip caused blood to trickle down your fragile skin. The pain of that was the last thing on your mind. You knew instantly by the expression he held you were in for it. Your jaw stayed tense, gritting your teeth against one another.

The slow drag of his cock out of your stretched, abused hole had you feeling more sensitive than ever before. Celtic slammed you down and kept the pace like that. You were being used as a flesh light for him. Every noise you made echoed back at you. It sounded like sin and heavenly sex at the same time. Your moans loud and needy as his entire length rubbed against your prostate, never leaving the pleasure spot alone.

Each bounce caused your cock to slap against each other’s stomach. The sensitive tip grew flush with blood. Pre leaked out and wettened both of your skins. It was dirty and needy all at the same time.

All you could do was brace on his knees and relax your muscles. Yet, when the pain finally waned, you pushed off of them and fumbled against his chest. The Yautja growled his warning. Not like you cared.

You were able to stable yourself on his torso before starting to meet each of his thrusts. He looked nearly as much as a mess as you were. “Can’t, ah, can’t handle it, Celtic?” you taunt him with an shit eating grin. Said male narrowed his gaze on you, thrusts messing up slightly. “Thought you were all, all game and whatnot? But, you truly can’t handle a human’s ass. Little bitch.”

His claws continued to draw blood freely from your skin. Celtic stopped. The only sound in the room was the combined panting from the two of you. His bright eyes were nearly a dark shade of yellow. It was scary.

“Oh, little prey. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.” He leaned into your personal space, panting hot air on your neck. “I have more stamina than you. You’ll be a whining, crying mess by the time I run through your ass. You won’t have anything left in your balls,” he challenged back, tongue flickering out again.

With an arm, you curl it around the back of his neck and tried to rise up higher on your knees. “I don’t think you’ll even last more than a round. You’ll be drooling by the first time you come. And, you’ll come quick. So pathetic.” His hands were so tight around your waist, it was impossible to move. Instead, you reached between the two of you and grasped at your own aching cock. You spat into your hand and started to stroke yourself in need of relief.

“Say’s the one-“ he lets you rise “-needily stroking himself in my lap.” He forces your form back down on his shaft. You screamed out and nearly pinched the base of your cock. The motion causes you to fall on to his torse, still pumping away. “See? Pathetic. Still jerking off with a cock deep inside of him. Such a needy, little ooman. Greedy little hole, needing my cock to fill it.”

The muscles on his stomach are chiseled. You pressed one side of your cock with a palm on his abs and thrusted against his toned muscles. A whined surged passed your lips. “S-shut up,” you snarked back weakly, not caring as much as before. Not with the edge growing near. “Fuck, yeah. Gonna come. I’m gon-gonna make a mess all over you. Teach yo-you a lesson.” It won’t work. You hoped it wouldn’t work.

Celtic grinned widely with his mandibles and angled his hips. Each thrust forced his length to slide against your prostate with all the strength he has. “Teach me a lesson? Sure. The lesson is how tight a ooman’s ass is. So fucking tight. I can’t wait to knot you.” You keened and quickened your thrusts. “There you go, desperate whore. Needing an alien to fuck you in the ass to get you to shut up.”

“I wish I had known that when I met you. Would’ve done it a long time ago,” he snarled, voice growing deep with each word.

At this point, you couldn’t think straight. The pleasure was rampant. It took over every sense you had. All you knew was the need to come. You came hard.

With a choked scream, head bowed down into his chest, cum spurted from the head of your dick and coated his entire torso. Each thrust only caused more to cover him. Your length throbbed hard, trying to soak Celtic. You mewled and squirmed in his hold, trying to get him to ease up. That only seemed to spur him on more. He somehow quickened his pace.

The skin on the back’s of your thighs and ass were going to be so sore tomorrow. You knew sitting down was going to be next to impossible. He held you place though, not allowing you any reprieve from his assault. “You’re going to take my cock like the good little prey you are. Fucking take it!” he snarled and grounded his hips against yours one last time.

Hot, thick spurts of cum filled you. A thick ball of flesh plugged you up, sealing every drop of Celtic’s seed inside of you. You were a limp mess on his torso, unable to even raise your head.

He collapsed against the couch with a deep, content purr that vibrated throughout his entire body. Strong, massive hands petted down your sweaty back. “Paya, I can tell it’s going to take forever for my knot to go down.” Shit, right… Yautja’s have knots. That’s why you felt fuller than normal. You groaned and rubbed your face against his similarly sweaty chest.

“Shut up,” you grumbled and stayed against him. It maybe sticky and a little gross. Yet, with his knot pressing against your prostate, you were trying not to go into overstimulation.

A chuckle left the creature’s chest. Celtic ran a hand from the base of your spine all the way to your neck. Said limb stayed there and cradled you close him. Your eyes shut, letting the dopamine fill your veins.

[losfacedevil]

Sovereign Light Cafe // JTK

a/n~ The long awaited Barista Jake is finally here! This was a Valentines request by my love @silks-up-my-sleeve - I hope I’ve done this Jake justice!

A sigh slipped past Jakes lips as he dropped another plastic lid to the floor, kicking it underneath the counter he stood behind. He rolled his eyes and reached for another lid, securing it onto the to go cup before sliding the beverage onto the pick up rack. His eyes danced over the setting Sun in the distance, closing time finally creeping up the horizon.

“Long day, Jay-Jay?” His partner in crime chirped. Jake turned his attention to the petite red head to his left, watching as she sipped happily on the milkshake he had made her a few minutes prior. He rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, leaning back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

“These doubles are for the birds. Five am to Seven pm and I have to do it all again tomorrow.” He groaned, reaching up to scrub a hand over his face. Sunny nodded, placing her milkshake down on the counter and wiped her hands on her apron, turning her attention to the girl walking through the door. Jake glanced over his shoulder and a soft smile spread across his lips as his eyes landed on you. Spinning on his heel he got to quick work of making your iced coffee.

“Hey Sun? Looks like I need more whip - would you mind running in the back to grab me some?” Jake mumbled, turning his attention to Sunny quickly. The smaller girl nodded and jogged into the back room as you approached the counter. Jakes gaze caught yours as you raised an eyebrow and nodded in Sunny’s direction.

“Bathroom breaks at the worst possible time.” He chuckled, sticking a spoon into the coffee cup in front of him and stirred. You watched him closely, taking note of just how careful he was every time he prepared a drink. Cocking your head to the side you stepped up to the counter, leaning on your hands as you waited for Sunny to return to her post.

“It’s a bit late to see you here though, isn’t it?” He joked, shaking the can of whipped cream he held and sprayed a decent amount on the top of the coffee in front of him.

“Late night study date with my laptop and textbooks, I need the proper fuel.” You giggled, watching closely as he popped a domed lid on top of the drink and slid it across the pick up station with a cheeky wink.

“Large ice, two shots of espresso, as much mocha as your heart desires and what is it you say? A fuck ton of whip.” He chuckled, leaning back against the small hand washing sink behind him, his arms crossed over his chest. A soft smile spread across your face as your eyes landed on the coffee now sat on the plastic shelving.

“How’d you… can I?” You tripped over your words, pointing at the cash register, a quiet request to pay. Jake shook his head and place a finger to his lips before making a ‘shoo’ motion with his other hand.

“It’s on the house, just don’t get us caught. Happy studying.” He chuckled, pushing himself off of the sink and slowly busied himself with the clean up tasks at hand. You couldn’t help the way your bottom lip found a home tucked safely between your teeth as you reached out and scooped the coffee up off of the stand.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You cooed, waving over your shoulder as you made your way out of the coffee shop.

Sunny pushed her way out of the back into the bar, a carton of cool whip held in her hand. Her eyes danced across the now empty dining room area and her brown quirked, wondering where you had gotten off to.

“All we have is cool whip I’ll have to tell mom, but… where’d your friend go?” She asked, eyeing Jake suspiciously. He shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way, glancing up to see you drive past the big storefront window.

“She was looking for her textbook, thought she left it in the booth but it’s nowhere to be found.” Jake mumbled, tossing the spoon he had used into the sink behind him. Sunny made a face, crossing her arms over her chest and began to tap her foot against the ground.

“Really? Then why are you cleaning up? I thought you were done with the closing duties?” She quipped, taking a step forward to see the coffee he had set aside for himself was gone.

“Spilled the coffee I was gonna make myself like a dumbass.” She nodded her head, not fully buying the story he was selling before turning on her heel and popped open the cash sales drawer to lock up for the night.

~*~*~

A yawn escaped Jake as he fumbled with the set of keys in his hand. He stared at them pointedly, trying to figure out why he couldn’t find his shop key when it clicked in his head. Those are your car keys dipshit. A defeated huff sounded from his throat as he shoved his hand down into the depths of his cargo pants pocket, fishing for the smaller set of keys he knew he had tossed in there this morning. The sound of a car approaching behind him shook him from his angsty delve into his pocket and he looked up, tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ears.

“Sun to the rescue.” He sighed, ceasing the struggle to find his shop keys amongst the change, hair ties and chapsticks that lived deep in his pockets. Sunny eyed him carefully as she got out of her car, taking in the wrinkled shirt and his disheveled hair hanging loosely around his shoulders, seemingly not been touched since he left the shop last night.

“Rough night, Jay?” She called, locking up her vehicle and slowly made her way over to where he stood. She fumbled with her keys for a second before producing the shop key and unlocked the door, letting Jake in first.

“Dude, I took a shower as soon as I got home and the next thing I knew my alarm was screaming at me to get up. I didn’t eat dinner, didn’t do my daily chores. I don’t know what happened.” Jake sighed, tossing his messenger bag down on the table closest to the door. Sunny nodded and reached up, placing her hands on both of his shoulders and pushed, forcing the boy to sit in the booth in front of him.

“You look like who did it and ran, where’s your brush?” She asked, holding her hand out next to his head. Jake dug around in his bag briefly and pulled out a hair brush that had seen its better days. Sunny couldn’t help but giggle as she took it off of him and pointed to her own bag.

“Find the spray bottle and little elastics in that mess I call a bag please.” Jake made quick work of pulling out the two things he was always prompted to find and held the spray bottle up to Sunny’s waiting hand.

His eyes fluttered shut as she made quick work of detangling his hair and quickly swooped the strands of his hair into two tight French braids down the back of his head. A soft sigh escaped him as she ran her cool fingers over the part in his hair, making sure the hair wasn’t pulled too tight from his scalp.

“That’s better. Now you don’t look like a wild child and it’s out of your face.” She cooed, spraying some more cool water against the top of his head and smoothed her hands over the braids. Jake turned and tilted his head, making sure the hair didn’t pull in any places before turning in his seat and held up a fist. Sunny rolled her eyes before connecting her fist with his in a fist bump and turned on her heel, making her way into the back room of the cafe.

Jake stretched over the back of the booth, sighing in relief as all of vertebrae in his back popped in quick succession. Rolling his head from side to side he turned in his seat and gathered his bearings before pushing himself to stand.

“Did you ask mom to get more whipped cream?” He called, scooping their bags up off of the table and slowly made his way into the back of the shop.

~*~*~

A tired sigh slipped past your lips as you slid out of the drivers seat and slammed it shut behind you, using the key fob in your hand to lock the doors. You dragged your feet as you made your way into the cafe, the plan for the day to melt into your booth in the far corner and lose yourself in your newest read.

Sunny’s bright and sunshine filled face greeted you as you opened the door and you felt your small fall a bit as you realized Jake was nowhere in sight. Sunny rang up your order and scooped it up off of Jakes work station to hand it to you as he pushed his way out of the backroom door.

“Hey! I wasn’t done.” He chuckled, shaking the can of whipped cream he held and flipped it upside down to fill the dome lid of your coffee with it. A soft smile spread across your face as you took in his appearance. The bags under his eyes seemed less than they were the night before and his hair was pulled into two smooth French braids.

“Hi, my friend! I like the braids, they suit you.” You kept your voice light and plucked the straw Sunny held out to you out of her hand, inserting it into your drink and took a long sip.

“Sunny decided I looked a little too chaotic this morning and insisted on the braids.” Jake chucked, twirling the end of the braid cheekily around his finger. You couldn’t help the giggles that slipped past your lips as butterflies erupted in your stomach.

“Well someone has to keep you looking your best, don’t they?” You nodded in his direction and quickly turned on your heel, making your way over to your usual booth.

Sunny watched as you slid into the booth and slowly began to take your books and laptop out of your backpack. She leaned back against the counter behind her and cross her arms over her chest and turned her attention to Jake. His eyes were trained on you, watching your every move as you opened your laptop and logged into it, opening your google docs before turning your attention to your textbook. She giggled slightly as she reached out and placed her fingers under his chin, pressing his jaw shut.

“You’re staring.” She giggled glancing over her shoulder at you once more.

“She likes you, you know. Should probably shoot your shot.” Jakes eyes grew wide and he shook his head, causing her to pull her fingers back.

“There’s no way she likes me, she’s just being nice when she comes in here is all.” Jake shrugged, not wanting to get his hopes up in regards to you. Sunny nodded her head as she watched you work, noting the quick glances you would shoot their way.

“She keeps glancing up at you, Jay. I promise you she likes you. Do you not see the way she looks at you when you’re talking to her? Her face fell in the slightest way earlier when she thought you weren’t here.” A soft blush spread across his cheeks as he caught your eye briefly.

“You think? She’s not just being nice?” Sunny rolled her eyes and nodded in the direction of the bar, a silent request for her daily coffee.

“I know you’re not giving free coffees to girls you don’t think you could pull - cause if you are… I’m telling mom!” Sunny giggled watching as Jakes cheeks blazed red and his eyes widened as he slowly began to mix her coffee.

“I wasn’t aware you were on to me.” Jake chuckled, sliding the coffee across the counter to Sunny. She rolled her eyes, picking up the cup and took a long swig before lifting her fingers to her lips and kissed them - he silent compliments to him.

“You don’t think I knew what you were doing last night when you told me to go find more whip knowing full well you had at least half a can still on your station? And when I came back you genuinely expected me to believe you spilled and entire cup of coffee and didn’t yell about it?” Jakes cheeks reddened even further - something Sunny wouldn’t have believed if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

“And you didn’t harp on me for giving away coffee?” Sunny couldn’t help the giggle that slipped past her lips as she reached up and clapped a hand to his shoulder.

“I’m guilty of giving a pretty girl or two a free coffee or muffin here and there - I can’t fault you if I’m doing it too. But you might wanna shoot your shot because if you don’t? I just might.. I mean look at her!” Sunny whistled lowly and glanced at you once more. Your brows were furrowed together, hand wrapped around the coffee cup and you leaned in closer to the screen in front of you.

“Look how cute she is when she’s concentrating.” Jakes eyes widened as they landed on you and he snapped the dish towel he held in his hands.

“SUN!” His voice coming out louder than he had meant it to caused Sunny to giggle and you to turn your attention to the couple. A soft sigh escaped you as you returned Sunny’s wave, disappointed by the way they openly flirted within your earshot.

~*~*~

The hours sped by without warning and before you knew it lunchtime was looming over your head. Reaching up above your head you stretched out your sore back, sighing wi the relief as the bones popped as the crick in your neck dissipated. Jake watched from behind the bar as you slowly packed up your stuff, a clear indicator that you were done for the day.

He popped a small plastic cup off of the stack to his right and quickly scribbled something on it in sharpie, shaking the cup to dry the ink before placing it down and filling it with the strawberry banana smoothie he had just made for Sunny. A soft smile spread across his face as he popped a lid on it and slid it across the mobile pick up station.

“How about something different for the road, Sweets? A little less mocha and a little more naturally sweet.” He chuckled, nodding his head in the direction of the cup now sat in front of him. You cocked your head to the side, mouthing the word ‘sweets’ to yourself and pointed at the cup.

“Yeah, just a little smoothie. Figured you’d like a change from your regular espresso mocha whip combo.” A soft smile spread across your face as you took the cup from its resting place and shot him a short wave.

“See you tomorrow, Jake.” You called, pushing your way out of the cafe. Jakes eyes grew wide as it registered in his mind that you had used his name. Sunny made her way out of the back room, tumbler clutched in her hand and she squeezed by Jake to get to the blender.

“Why do you look like you’ve been shot?” She chuckled, pouring the contents of the blender into her cup.

“She called me Jake, Sun.” He mumbled, reaching for the now empty blender and turned at his waist to place it into the sink behind them.

“Well that’s your name isn’t it?”

Sitting in your car just outside the cafe, you stared dumbfounded at the cup, his chicken scratch scrawl now smudged but still legible enough to make out what was written there. Your heart hammered in your chest as you fully processed the words.

‘Valentine’s Day Dinner? Text me!’ With his number scrawled just beneath his question.

Taking a deep breath in through your nose you pulled your phone out of your back pocket and quickly added his number to your contacts list.

~*~*~

Your heart hammered in your chest as you pulled up to the cafe a bit later than usual. You could see Jake stood behind the bar as usual, his back turned to the bay window and Sunny speaking to him with a reassuring hand pressed to his shoulder. You took a deep breath as you exited your car - he liked you, he asked you on a date - the sound of the blood rushing through your ears damn near deafening you.

Pushing your way through the door you reached up and pressed a finger to your lips, signaling to Sunny to remain quiet and not speak of your entrance. She continued speaking to Jake, soft sentences of reassurance that you definitely felt the same way he felt about you and that maybe you needed a little extra time to process what he had written on the cup.

You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face as you crossed your arms over your chest and tapped your food audibly against the floor. Jake tilted his head back gently and a soft sigh escaped him as he mentally prepared himself to handle a customer order.

“So you ask me out and then completely fumble having my drink ready for me, Jake? Well I never!” You giggled, placing your hand to your chest as he spun on his heel. His cheeks and the tips of his ears were blazing with heat, the blush slowing creeping down the length of his neck. A smile spread across Sunny’s face as she shot you a wink and turned to excuse herself to the bathroom.

“You… did see what I wrote.” It was a statement not a question, his eyes holding a light of almost disappointment as he slowly began to make your coffee.

“I did see what you wrote, but my balls are only there when I’m hopped up on caffeine so… I couldn’t find the balls to text you last night.” A chuckle of relief slipped past Jakes lips and he looked up and saw the smile spread across your face.

“Well I mean… I’m not sure we can continue this if you have balls. I don’t exactly swing for that team - you’d be better suited for my brother.” Your eyes widened and jaw dropped as the words spilled from him and he reached up, placing his hand over his mouth.

“Alrighty then… I think you got me there. But how about we start with lunch before we go jumping into some extravagant Valentine’s Day plans? This Sunny will let you sneak away for a little bit?” You questioned, watching as he added the whipped cream to the top of your coffee and licked the little bit off of the tip of his finger.

“We’re usually dead until three, I think she’ll be okay. HEY SUNNY - I’LL BE BACK!” He called over his shoulder and lifted the small countertop that separated the lobby from the bar. Standing next to you he bent his arm at the elbow and motioned for you to take it.

“I’ve heard the sandwich shop up the street is pretty good, let’s try there?” You suggested, following his lead out of the cafe. A giggle mixed with relief and excitement slipped past Jakes lips as you both slowly made your way to the sandwich shop.

Cheeky Jake Girl Taglist: @vanfleeter @writingcold @sinsofstardust @silks-up-my-sleeve @stardustvanfleet @tommie-gvf @jakesguitarsolo @klarxtr @ignite-my-fire @alwaysonthemend @allieisacrybaby @runwayblues

[oohnotvery]

Edges of the Night (Chapter 5)

They haven’t spoken so much as ten words to each other in the past four hours. It’s not unusual for their long car rides to be filled with a decent amount of silence. As often as they used to be on the road together, it was unrealistic to expect every moment to be filled with witty banter or riveting discussions of casework.

But this silence hangs like a thick cloud over their heads. She can’t tell if Mulder is too frustrated or too scared to speak. As for her, she doesn’t mind the oppressiveness of their silence. If he forces them to have any type of meaningful conversation, she’s terrified of what will come up inside her. When Mulder pushed her out of his life by calling into question the single most important thing in her world—their relationship—, she was left feeling like a spinning top. No matter where she went or what she bumped into, she always spun right back to him. Thoughts of him, memories of him. And of course, the obsessive examination of the way he discarded her so easily.

When Alan showed up in her life, he served as a distraction—a handsome, intelligent distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. Deep in her subconscious, she knows what role he plays. He is the bridge between a life with Mulder and a life without Mulder. He is the stepping stone that gets her from agonizing despair to satisfactory contentment. She has spent a lot of mental energy focusing on appreciating Alan for what he is worth—his steadiness, stability, and kindness.

But if Mulder forces her to stop and reflect on what her life was like before he pushed her away, that bridge will collapse. The stepping stone will crumble. The new world she has worked tirelessly to create will melt away, and she will be left with an ache, a yearning, a longing for Mulder and only Mulder.

She hates this about herself, hates that she could ever feel this strongly about one single individual. What she does appreciate about herself, however, is her ability to compartmentalize. It’s the quality that has gotten her through the past few months. It’s the reason she was able to say yes to Alan’s proposal so quickly. Her mind has walled off her past, has hidden away memories of Mulder, and has created a small, compact space where Alan and his easiness fit quite nicely.   

Being in close quarters with Mulder, though, is like taking a hammer to those carefully constructed walls. She feels the barriers cracking; she feels the emotions bleeding through. If he forces her to talk about it, they will erode completely.

And so she allows the uncomfortable silence, interrupting it only to give him the bare minimum in terms of directions.

They reach the outskirts of Salt Lake City right as the sun dips down behind the icy white mountains to the east. Scully started pumping the heat about an hour back, but now that they’re climbing north and driving into more mountainous terrain, the chill coming in through the broken back window is too much to bear.

She wraps her arms around herself and glances at the city to her left. “Let’s find a gas station,” she suggests quietly.

“Hm?”

“A gas station.”

“Okay.”

He doesn’t question her, just pulls off the next exit and steers them towards a Chevron station. She leaves him to pump gas while she runs into the store and pays cash for dinner, two coffees, and two rolls of duct tape.

Mulder is leaning against the door when she hands him a sandwich and he flashes a grateful smile which she doesn’t return. She tosses her own food into the car, sets the beverages into the cup holders, and then starts yanking at the tape.

When Mulder picks up on what she’s doing, he grabs the second roll of tape from her and starts helping her patch up the back window. By the time they’re done, her car looks cheap and ridiculous, but Scully knows the tape will keep out some of the cold.

She briefly checks Mulder’s injury before insisting that she take over driving again. Although it was nice to have a respite, she knows that if he really does have a concussion, he needs to rest.

“The tape was a good call,” Mulder murmurs once they’re back on the road. The heat flowing from the vents seems to last longer now that it isn’t disappearing through the back, and there’s no longer a chilly breeze blasting them from behind.

She nods.

For a while, it seems like their luck is improving. The car isn’t as cold; they have a full tank of gas; their stomachs are full; and there’s caffeine racing through their veins.

But then the snow starts blowing. At first, it’s just a very light dusting, a few specks of white landing on the windshield. After about five minutes of this, though, the flurries morph into a heavier snowfall, and at twenty minutes in, they’ve driven right into the middle of a full-blown snow squall.

Scully can feel the wind pressing against the car and she braces her hands on the wheel to keep the vehicle steady on the road. Her headlights provide only a few feet of visibility and as the snow starts to gather on the highway, the car starts skidding.

Although she considers herself the superior driver between the two of them, Scully knows Mulder would be better suited for this type of winter weather driving. She simply isn’t used to snow, and when she loses control of the car on a turn, she panics and slams on the brakes.

“Foot off the brake!” Mulder shouts, but the car has already begun a quick slide down the road. No matter how Scully turns the wheel, her car seems determined to go the opposite direction.

“Scully, stop!” he yells as she twists the wheel as far as it will go.

She shoots him a furious look. “Shut up, Mulder!”

“We’re going to crash!”

“I’m doing my best—”

Mulder throws himself over the console and yanks the wheel from her, forcing the car’s tires to turn away from a guardrail. Indignation bursts inside her and she shoves his hands away, trying to regain control.

“Stop it—”

“Get off of me!”

But just as his hands regrip the wheel, they hit a patch of ice and it slings them into a spiral, sending the car twisting around in a circle.

She shrieks as the momentum tosses her into the door. Mulder throws his arms around her shoulders and drags her to his chest as they start spinning faster and faster towards the guardrail. She braces herself against him and they hit the rail with a smack and a screech. The crash jolts them towards the dashboard but Mulder’s body absorbs the majority of the blow.

He pulls away as soon as the car comes to a full stop. Hands shaking with shock, Scully glances around, noticing that they’re now facing the opposite direction on the highway. Snow drifts down on them in thick clouds and she bites her lip roughly.

No, no, no. They cannot get stuck here; they have to keep moving, if not to outrun their pursuers, but mostly so that she can put some necessary distance between her and Mulder. She can’t help but feel like they’re at some kind of extreme team-building seminar—forced into close quarters, commanded to examine their strengths and weaknesses, and required to solve an impossibly long list of outrageous problems. Meanwhile, the last words they spoke to each other were full of vitriol, and one of them has very seriously called into question the trust and respect that used to define their partnership.

“You okay?” Mulder murmurs, and she somehow manages to nod. The shaking in her hands has ratcheted up and her breathing is coming in quick, fast pants.

“You?” she asks tightly.

He shrugs. She really needs to check his head again after that crash, but she can barely regulate her own breathing.

“You did great, Scully,” he says generously, ignorant of the way her body is starting to respond to their circumstances. “So good.” She bristles, hating the way her brain wants to puff up at the praise she doesn’t deserve. Her lack of skill is unquestionably the reason they crashed. He continues. “We should keep moving, though, get out of this storm if we can. Or find a place to crash until morning.” His eyes flicker back to hers, and that’s when she notices the way he’s looking at her. His gaze is full of yearning—not the amorous type of yearning that she once wished she’d see in him, but a conciliatory type of yearning. There’s a very noticeable desperation to please, a desire to make nice, a need to get back on good terms. Jesus, does he really think we’re moving towards some type of resolution here? Is he looking for absolution? Forgiveness? How could he possibly think that all of this chaos could bring us closer?  

Mulder swallows and it looks painful. “You were really good, Scully.”

At his placating tone, a flame erupts in her chest. If he truly wants to be on good terms with her, maybe he shouldn’t have kicked her out of his life. If he really wants them to play nice, maybe he shouldn’t have overridden her autonomy. If he actually wants them to be friends again, maybe he should have respected her.  

She feels the words rising in her throat and she bats them away furiously. Just hours ago, she begged him not to instigate this conversation. She demanded he stop talking about it. And now she’s the one who’s going to break.  

She twists to face him, her cheeks blazing indignantly. “I was good, Mulder? But not good enough to be your partner? Not trustworthy enough?”

He blanches and it feels like a win.

“Scully,” he says cautiously, “you know it was never about that—”

“Oh, I know, Mulder,” she breathes irately. “Skinner knew, I knew. And we both still let you get away with it. Did it feel good when you sent me away? Did you feel a huge relief after I left? Did you feel discharged from your self-imposed duty to protect me?”

His eyes sharpen but he doesn’t reply. But her carefully constructed walls have imploded, and now she’s determined to poke him until he answers for what he did.

“At first, I thought this really was about trust,” she begins. “I believed you when you looked me in the eyes and told me you didn’t trust me anymore. You knew exactly what to say to cause me to doubt my place in your life.” She huffs a dark laugh. “But I know you, Mulder. It was never about the trust between us. This—this crazy fucking journey we’re on together more than proves my point. Whether we want it or not, we survive on the trust between us.” She clenches her jaw. “What you did to me was about respect.”

He isn’t looking at her anymore. He isn’t even reacting. He has gone stone-still, a statue, his hands resting quietly in his lap. He doesn’t even look like himself.

She knows she should stop talking, but the words are pouring out of her without control. “You think you made some noble, sacrificial decision when you banished me from your life. You think you’re a martyr. If I give up Scully, she’ll be safe. But your choice was purely selfish, Mulder. You assumed I wanted or needed a life free from the dangers of our work. You assumed I needed protecting—by you and from you. But your careless decision stripped me of my free will.” She pauses to suck in a breath. Her heart is beating so fast she can barely speak. “You never used to be that person. For years, you—you trusted me and my opinions, you looked to me for advice, you cared about what I thought. What happened to that? Did my cancer make me so weak in your eyes that suddenly I was someone you could just wave off with a magic wand? I have to do this for Scully because she’s not capable of making decisions about her life anymore? Working on the X-Files stripped me of a lot of things. My sister, my bodily autonomy, sometimes even my sanity. But you were always the constant. The one who made me feel like I was in control of my life. And then you ripped it away from me, cruelly and abruptly. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that, Mulder. I don’t think I can ever get past what you did to me.”  

Adrenaline sings through her and she tries to tamp it down. But now that she’s spoken her piece, her body takes up the cause. The trembling in her hands increases. Sweat starts to bead on her forehead. Her foot taps restlessly against the floor. She is a live wire.

But Mulder is motionless. It’s unsettling to see him so still. She wants to reach over and shake him. She wants him to blow up at her, or maybe jump out of the car and run away. Anything but this silence. It feels like a punishment. You stick the truth in my face and I’ll shut down, Scully. I’ll just shut down.

She presses her palms into her eyes and sinks low into the seat. She wants to give up. She wants to sit here on the side of the road forever until the car is covered in piles of snow, until their bodies are found frozen to their seats in the morning.

But she has to keep going. She has to get them off this fucking highway and into some semblance of safety. She glances at Mulder and sees him staring blankly at the snow buildup on the windshield. Good, that’s good. Let him sit and ruminate for a while.

He doesn’t even react when she starts maneuvering the car off the side of the road, nor does he make any suggestions when she continues to slip and slide down the highway. She keeps the car rolling so slowly that they make hardly any progress over the course of an hour.

To her dismay, the storm doesn’t settle, and as they creep along the highway, she starts to worry that they’ll have to hunker down in the car for the night. An image sweeps across her mind of the two of them huddling together in the backseat, his coat flung across their bodies, his arms wrapped around her shoulders for warmth. Her stomach swoops.

In another lifetime, she would have wanted that badly. She remembers the way she used to crave his touch, how she looked forward to seeing him in the morning, how she thought about him at night in the privacy of her bed. Looking back, she is aware of the depth of her feelings. She found a man who matched her passion, intelligence, and determination. She found a partner who treated her like an equal in every respect. It had been so easy to fall in love.  

No. No, she can’t huddle with him for warmth tonight. Being drawn into that kind of intimacy would once have been beautiful and precious. An indication that maybe he loves me too. But love without respect is incomplete. A well without water. And intimacy between them tonight would break her.  

She starts to feel some relief when they finally pass through a town, and although the snowfall is thick, she watches closely for a motel. But as they pass the main drag and leave behind civilization without finding accommodations, she starts to worry. She’s about to cry with exasperation when Mulder raises his arm and points.

She follows the line of his hand and sees a white wooden house just off the road. She glances to Mulder expectantly.

“BNB,” is all he says.

She takes the turn and rolls into the home’s gravel driveway where a few other cars are parked. They don’t speak as they stumble out of her beat-up car and plod through thick mounds of snow to take the front porch stairs.

It’s very late and her stomach churns as she presses the buzzer at the door. How likely is it that they’ll get admitted to a bread-and-breakfast at this hour?

But after only a few minutes, the door to the house opens and an older woman motions for them to follow her inside.

“Goodness gracious,” the woman exclaims as she glances out the window at the accumulating snow. “It’s a good thing you two got off the road.”

Scully attempts a small smile, but beside her, Mulder continues to stare blankly ahead.

“Do you have any rooms available?” she asks politely.

The woman smiles benevolently. “I do, I do. My largest room is open, up on the third floor. King bed and en suite bathroom.”

Scully breathes a sigh of relief. “Do you, uh, do you happen to have two rooms?”

The woman’s face falls slightly and Scully notices the way her eyes dart down to take in Scully’s engagement ring. She resists the urge to stuff her hand in her pocket.

“I don’t,” the woman finally says, her expression a mixture of confusion and regret.

Scully nods tightly. “We’ll take the king bed.”

She pays in cash and the woman offers to wake her husband to help with their bags. Scully shakes her head. “We don’t have any bags,” she explains. “We got stuck coming home from a—a conference.”

“Ahh,” the woman replies, but Scully can sense her suspicion.

The stairs leading to their room are steep and creaky, and Scully wonders how many other guests they’re disturbing as they plod up to the third floor. There’s only one room on the top floor and Scully opens the door as quietly as possible.

The room is small, its space almost completely monopolized by a very large bed. Scully doesn’t even bother scoping out the sleeping arrangements; she heads straight to the bathroom and starts up the shower. Even though the provided toiletries aren’t hers, they feel like heaven on her hair, skin, and teeth. Freshly showered, she is reluctant to put on her dirty clothes again, but she’s got no choice. If she were alone, she would consider sleeping in the nude. But because of Mulder, she pulls her work clothes back onto her body and hopes they don’t reek.

When she comes out of the bathroom, Mulder is sitting in a rocking chair but he immediately gets up and heads to the shower. She spends a few moments drawing the curtains and clicking off the lamps before she sinks into the bed.

Her body welcomes the softness of the mattress and the warmth of the sheets, and she starts to drift asleep quickly. She barely notices when Mulder reenters the room, but after a few moments, a rhythmic creaking noise rouses her. She pushes up on her elbows and squints into the dark. A few feet away, Mulder has taken up residence on the rocking chair once again. She sighs irritably. Trust Mulder to banish himself to the most uncomfortable seat in the house.

“I need you to be alert tomorrow in case you have to drive,” she calls out sensibly. “Come to bed.”

“I’m fine here.”

Enough with the self-punishment already. She throws the covers off and pads over to him. In the dark, she can just barely make out the surprise on his face as she curls her fingers around his bicep and tugs him to standing.

She drags him to the bed in some hideous parody of how she always hoped a sexual encounter between them might begin. He settles sullenly beside her, as far away as he can get, and she shuts her eyes and tells herself to sleep.

Mulder is so, so quiet for so long that she wonders if he’s fallen asleep or if he’s just stuck in a cycle of self-castigation.

But suddenly there’s a shift in the mattress and she feels him come closer. Her body stiffens.

“Scully,” he says, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

She doesn’t turn to face him but she doesn’t turn away either. She doesn’t know what he’s going to say, nor does she know what she wants him to say.

There’s a long pause and she starts to wonder if he’s expecting her to speak. And then she hears the wet slide of his mouth parting.

She holds her breath. What’s it going to be? An explanation? An excuse? An apology? Or God . . . maybe even a declaration? Something crazy and outrageous and impulsive. Foolishly, her heart jumps. Jesus, it that what she really wants from him?

She waits, heart thumping loudly. When he stays silent, she almost prompts him, but thinks better of it and keeps her mouth closed.

And she waits.

And waits.

And waits.

But nothing comes. Eventually she hears him shift onto his back, then onto his side facing away from her.

Tears prick unexpectedly at her eyes. Her silly little heart, thinking he’d try to smooth things over, thinking he’d try to communicate. But when have they ever gotten this part right?

She turns away. The wind howls at the window. Mulder’s breathing evens out. And she doesn’t sleep.

[inkinthequill]

🔞 Moms Need Loving, Too 😔🔞

Aptera is a single-mom in desperate need of some free time. Clearly, a babysitter is in order. She meets a strapping, buff college student at her local gym that would work. But, oh no! Aptera's strapped for cash right now... I bet you can guess what happens next!

Being a single mom was hard work.

Not only did Aptera have to balance all the childcare and housework on her own, but she also had to balance a job to pay for all their expenses as well. She was never angry or embittered about her situation. However, it was still exhausting, and she couldn't be there 24/7...

What she needed... was a babysitter.

That was a lot harder than most people might realize. First was the matter of finding someone she trusted to look after her child... and then being able to budget enough money to pay them, as well. Her addiction to true crime series had the unfortunate downside of making her hyper-paranoid of having ANY potential stranger left alone with her child.

Recently, however, she had a spot of luck.

In the little free time she had, she had started visiting a local gym; her job was stuffy and not very active, so she needed something to keep her moving and in shape. During her visits, she had met a college-age woman named Sara who stepped in to help her out when Aptera couldn't figure out how to use one of the machines.

It was pretty clear Sara knew how to use all of the machines. She stood a head above any of the men in the gym, built like a professional athlete, and was staggeringly pretty. Thick, silver hair flowed down her shoulders (when it wasn't tied up in a ponytail), sharp eyes paired with soft, seafoam green irises.

Needless to say, every time Sara walked over and started spending an abundance of time helping her out, Aptera had to try incredibly hard to focus on her exercise and not just... her.

Her repressed, yet steadily growing thirst aside, there was something even more important she was taking away from her frequent meetings with Sara. She was incredibly sweet. Considering she was in college, Aptera had no doubt she would mind a side job for some extra cash as well. So it was that she offered the babysitting job to Sara; though, she did take a bit of convincing. Not because she necessarily didn't want to do it at all, but more because she expressed a bit of nerves about being able to properly take care of a kid.

Over time, though, it turned out that she was a natural fit for it. After a bit of hand-holding and a pretty frequent amount of texts the first couple of times she babysat for Aptera, she had fallen into the role quite spectacularly. Aptera frequently came home to her daughter sound asleep, or all-smiles as Sara doted on her, played games with or, or otherwise spoiled her just a little bit.

There was just a little snag, though.

More money problems. Unexpected bills were a universal woe to most people, and of course, it struck Aptera as well. She was already decently frugal, having learned many tricks from her experience as a single mother; but that didn't stop a stray expense from hitting her when she really did not need one, currently.

What was a woman to do?

She needed to work more hours, but she wouldn't be receiving a check for said hours for at least two weeks...

At the same time, she didn't want to leave Sara high and dry when no doubt, she also had her own expenses to pay.

She came one night, late after working far too many hours to need to balance other worries on her mind right now. Nonetheless, she had to break the news to Sara.

When she came home, the woman was waiting outside her daughter's door, sitting against it and checking her phone. When it came to her bedtime, Sara frequently waited outside the door in case the kid started having a bad dream, or otherwise started calling out in distress. The extra-fast response time tended to get her back to sleep faster, Sara frequently told her.

“Um... hey, Sara...” Aptera said, her voice dry from a day's worth of answering calls.

“Evening, Aptera,” Sara replied, giving her a cheery, if tired smile. “Everything go okay at work?”

“Yeah... yeah, it was fine,” Aptera said with a nod, idly fidgeting with her hands. “She asleep...? Things went all fine, I imagine...?”

“Of course,” Sara said firmly, giving her a thumbs-up. “Got all her energy out earlier, and now she's out like a light.”

“Good... good. Thank you so much, Sara...” Aptera sighed with relief, a finger tugging into her blouse. “I... there is an issue, though...”

“Oh yeah? What's wrong?”

“Well, money is a little tight right now, so... I can pay you for tonight, but it'll be a bit before I can afford to have you babysit again...”

Sara blinked, completely stone-faced. “I mean, you don't have to pay me. I'm here to help, not for the money.“

Aptera stiffened in surprise, almost freezing in place. ”A-Are you sure? Really?“

“Well, yeah. The cash was just a bonus, I don't want you paying me if it's stretching you thin or causing problems.”

Part of Aptera felt guilty... while Sara was willing to help, she did feel bad at the idea of her taking all that time out of her day for nothing in return...

“T-There... is one solution, I can think of, though...” Aptera said, her body flushing as a suspicious look arose in her eyes.

“Hm?” Sara said, tilting her head curiously and raising an eyebrow. “Like I said, you don't have to stress yourself over any of that.”

Aptera cleared her throat, extending a finger as if to hush Sara. “Just... come with me for a second, okay...?” she whispered, extending her hand.

“I... well, okay...” Sara said, taking her hand-- Aptera leading her toward her bedroom...

+ + + +

“A-Aptera...”

“Shhh... just sit back and relax, okay?” the woman replied quietly. Sara was sitting on the edge of the mother's bed, Aptera situation between her knees and pinching her zipper.

Aptera slowly pulled the zipper downwards, letting out a quiet gasp as she spotted the size of the immense bulge she was unveiling. It was covered by soft, blue boxers, which did little to hide her rapidly stiffening shaft.

Aptera hooked her fingers into the belt loops on Sara's pants, tugging them downwards and giving the bulge a long, slow kiss through her underwear. The college girl bit down on her lip, fingers curling into the bedsheets and gripping them tight. Aptera's lips were plush, full, and ever so soft, and Sara could feel as much even through the thin fabric separating them from her cock.

Aptera hooked her fingertips into the waistband of her boxers next, tugging them downwards to reveal her prize. Well, this wasn't supposed to be her “paying” Sara, but... perhaps it was a bit more mutual than that.

What a prize it was, though.

Aptera's mouth hung open as Sara's girthy cock swung up to full mast in front of her face, paired with heavy, full balls from her teasing. The single mother was sure she had never seen such a massive package in her life...

“It's so... big... ❤️” Aptera said with a shaky outward breath, the heat of which rolled up the shaft and caused it to twitch and throb.

The woman found herself immediately gravitating to Sara's balls, pushing her lips against them in an open-mouth kiss. A hand reached up to play with the fat, uncut tip of Sara's cock, half-moaning into her balls as she smeared the girl's precum into her palm.

“A-Ahh...” Sara moaned, clearly doing her best to keep her voice quiet. It wasn't like they had the chance to just leave for a hotel and be as loud as they liked, so there was the added pressure of keeping their voices down... despite how difficult that was with how intensely Aptera was worshipping her balls and teasing her cock.

For Sara, this felt like a dream. She would have been lying if she said she hadn't thought about Aptera in this way on a few lonely nights— or, perhaps even stealing some glances at the woman's round, pillowy ass while helping her at the gym. Seeing her like this was on a whole different level, though... seeing the woman's gorgeous face, pressed against her crotch with such a lustful expression...

The mature woman slowly raised her face from her balls, steadily jerking her off while staring up at her with a lewd smile. “Poor baby... you're so pent up...” she moaned, giving the underside of the girl's dick a long, slow lick upwards. “How much have you wanted me to do something like this...?”

“A... lot...” Sara murmured, weakly.

Aptera giggled, opening her blouse to expose more of her chest; before taking hold of her dick again, and easing the thick head of Sara's cock in between her waiting lips— letting out a hum of satisfaction as she swirled her tongue around it. Sara closed her eyes and let out a soft, restrained gasp, having to bite a finger to keep her voice down. Aptera pulled off with a wet pop, continuing to pump the girl's shaft with her hand as she grinned up at her.

”Naughty girl... what were you thinking you would do with such a massive thing? Did you want to have your way with me? Make me all yours? ❤️“

”Y-Yes, ma'am...“ Sara said after a moment of embarrassed hesitation, her breath ragged as her tip continued to leak with signs of her immense arousal.

Aptera bit her lip as she eyed up Sara's huge cock and athletic body one more time, before letting go of the shaft. The girl let out a whine at the sudden absence of stimulation but quieted down when she saw Aptera stand up, push up her skirt, and slowly drop her panties down her legs-- kicking it off one leg and leaving it dangling precariously off the other.

The woman moved onto the bed past Sara, laying down on her back and propping up her head with a pillow; looking directly at Sara with a hungry glint in her eyes and slowly spreading her legs, clad in pantyhose. Her dark brown hair spilled beautifully the sheets, framing her pretty face perfectly. Sara could see just how soaked Aptera had gotten this whole time, waiting for her to come over and slip herself inside...

“Come on then, honey... show me just what you wanted to do to me...” Aptera teased, beckoning her over with a finger.

Sara didn't need any more invitation than that.

In seconds, she was on top of Aptera. Too heated to remain polite about it, she quickly tore into Aptera's pantyhose with a hand, enough to expose the woman's pussy to grind against and press into with the tip of her cock. Aptera gave her a teasing gasp, giggling at how eager and needy the younger girl had gotten. “Oh! ❤️ So rough ❤️” Aptera said, her voice raising an octave as she felt the tip of Sara's dick pressing against her entrance.

As the mother looked down at the cock currently being lined up with her pussy, she wasn't entirely sure if the whole thing would even fit in her...

Of course, that didn't stop the over-eager college student from suddenly thrusting her hips forward, both of their eyes rolling up at the same time; Sara from sinking into the tight pussy of the woman she'd lusted over for weeks, and Aptera from feeling Sara quickly filling every last inch of her. The woman felt her body stretching to take all of Sara's girth, each inch of it striking a spot that made her back arch as it pressed forward. Aptera almost came on the spot, having to cover her mouth to prevent herself from moaning at an obscene volume.

Sara groaned as she felt herself fully bottom out inside of her, the two of them panting as they both took a moment to adjust and get used to the sensation. The babysitter, deciding to get a better angle, hooked her arms underneath Aptera's legs and raised them into the air-- the mother letting out a delighted gasp, and a low coo of pleasure as Sara finally started thrusting her hips. Her high-heels dangled uselessly off her feet as her legs swayed with every pump from Sara, hearts in Aptera's eyes as the girl's cock began to rhythmically hammer against her womb.

“You... you feel so good, Miss Aptera...” Sara did her best to whisper, though she was struggling to keep her voice down enough as is.

“Y-You flirt ❤️“ Aptera purred, her breath sharp and ragged as Sara fucked her. Her sweat was hot on her skin as the girl worked her body over, Sara frequently kissing her legs and groping her body all over where and when she could. It was crystal clear just how much she craved her, feeling up her chest, her hips, squeezing her thighs... “You didn't even ask if you should put on a condom ❤️ Are you trying to knock me up, Sara? ❤️” the mother teased, staring up at her with unrepentant lust.

She had expected the girl to get flustered. She didn't expect Sara to get even more turned on.

The girl immediately folded Aptera's legs in half as she laid upon her, pinning her heels by the sides of the head as she started ruthlessly pounding her pussy. Sara did her best to quiet the two of them by leaning and stealing a kiss— passionately making out with the woman as she laid claim to her body.

Aptera moaned helplessly into Sara's mouth, her eyes rolling back up into her head as she felt her thoughts slip away from her. Every thrust was at a perfect angle to drive her crazy, feeling herself clamp down on her dick repeatedly in orgasmic bliss. She could feel Sara's dick twitch and throb inside her, the girl breaking the kiss and panting-- still unable to keep her hips from pumping away inside her.

“S-Should... should I pull out...?”

“N-Noo ❤️ Inside ❤️ Please, knock me up! ❤️” Aptera moaned in response, gasping in delight and arching her back as she immediately felt Sara's body tense up and give her exactly what she wanted.

A torrent of thick, hot cum started flooding Aptera's waiting womb; so much of which, that it began to spill out of her as Sara emptied those heavy, pent-up balls inside of her.

The pair panted together heatedly, kissing and squeezing and touching each other in a blissful trance for a good while; Aptera's legs weakly hugging the woman's torso to keep her from pulling out.

“Was... was that good, Miss Aptera...?”

“The best... ❤️” the mother murmured, kissing the girl's face. “Stay a little longer...?”

Sara nodded, her face flushing just as red as the rest of her body had grown at this point. ”I think... I think I'd like that, ma'am.“

Aptera squeezed her tighter, giggling and kissing her neck.

”Good... 'cause I'm still not done with you, girly ❤️“

[tala-bez-i]

At first sight Chapter Forty-Two

(m!reader x Bonten!Haruchiyo Sanzu)

Fluff/slash/reader is male/cursing/BontenTimeline/drugs and alcohol mentioned/violence/blood/death

All characters that appeared in the Tokyo Revengers manga and anime belong to Ken Wakui.

Words: 4137

Enough babbling. Back to the action… I guess 🤔

This chapter may not be pleasant to read for some people.

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Sanzu informed you about three different places that were behind on their last protection payment. Two restaurants agreed to pay the fee immediately and gave you the required amount in cash, while also informing you who was behind the whole situation. You were not expecting the answer that came. 

A woman named Mina, who convinced Sato to betray Bonten and join Yuu's side. She was the one responsible for the attempted murder of you, Sanzu, and Mochizuki during Sato's club takeover. 

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you were aware that you had heard of this woman before, but you couldn't remember when or where. 

"Everything alright, Y/n?" Sanzu asked you as you drove silently to your last destination. On the way, you stopped at a small restaurant for a decent ramen, and now the man sat comfortably in his passenger seat. 

“I don't know.” 

“Huh? Didn't you like it?” 

“I couldn't enjoy the food. That name keeps popping in my head, Mina.” You explained, stopping at a red light. “I feel like I've heard it before.” 

“Mina is a very common female name, and a lot of hookers use it as a nickname.” He shrugged. 

“Yeah, you're right. I just don't understand how one woman could intimidate three guys who work with us.” You replied, frowning slightly. “That doesn't make sense. How did she do that?” 

“Or what she promised them.” Sanzu sighed and laughed quietly. “Maybe she's some kind of billionaire or something? Or is she hiding an army under her skirt that could defeat us?” 

“An STD?” You asked, raising your eyebrows and Sanzu slapped you hard on the thigh. “Ouch!” 

“You're disgusting.” Your passenger grimaced. “Fuck... Disgusting. Couldn't you have said something else?” 

“Sorry... So, now the club and we're going to Mikey's, right?” 

“Yes. You can drop me off at the apartment building on the way back.” He adjusted his seat belt and you gave him a sad look. 

“Why?” 

“What, why? I haven’t been home in a while.” 

“It’s not like you left the kids alone and they’re crying…” 

“We are not married and I do not want to hear what your sister thinks of us.” He raised one hand stopping you from speaking. “Seriously, she should focus on her private life.” 

You did not comment on this, knowing that your sister had been trying to set her traps on Ran Haitani for almost three years. Sanzu knew about it as well and often found himself watching her efforts from the sidelines, thoroughly enjoying it. 

“In three days, I will go to visit my father, it will be his birthday.” You said after a long moment of silence. 

“Uh-huh.” 

“It's funny that their birthdays are on the same day…” 

“Hmm?” 

“My dad and Natsuko.” You said, giving him a quick glance. “I already have a present for her.” 

“That dollhouse you bought at the toy store you weren’t supposed to go to alone?” 

“Come on, Sanzu. It’s not like that woman has any chance with me.” 

“I don’t like it when she hangs around you.” The pink haired man’s tone was quite grim and you smiled at him slightly. 

“I know you made sure she wouldn’t come to my cafe anymore.” 

Sanzu glanced at you out of the corner of his eye and shrugged slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Of course.” 

You pulled into the parking lot of a nightclub building in the entertainment district and both of you got out of the car. Sanzu smoothed out his jacket and pulled out a bottle of pills, from which he poured one pill into his hand and put it in his mouth. 

“Are we going there right away?” You asked and seeing the man shake his head, you pulled out a pack of cigarettes. You took one out for yourself and offered one to your companion. 

“Ran sent a message that they were done and got a message from Kakucho to join us.” 

You put the lighter under his cigarette so he could light it and as soon as he took the first drag, you lit your own. You had the feeling that something similar had already happened. You, Sanzu, the Haitani brothers and collecting a debt from a nightclub... 

You had a strangely bad feeling. 

You took a drag on your cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke, watching it float in the air and disappear. You looked up at the sky, which was slowly starting to fill with rain clouds. You hadn't checked the weather forecast beforehand, too busy with the pink-haired man standing right next to you, enjoying his cigarette. 

“Who owns the club?” You asked casually. 

“Naoko Akabane.” He answered you with a shrug. 

“A woman?” You looked at him carefully as he took a drag on his cigarette. 

He flicked the ash on the ground. “Yes, but only on the papers. This club is supposed to look completely legal. The real manager, so to speak, is her husband, Koji Akabane.” 

You mumbled under your breath and after a moment you both heard muffled music from the car radio. 

“And here are our partners.” Sanzu grumbled as an elegant car belonging to the Haitani brothers pulled into the parking lot. 

Rindou parked his car next to yours, the music stopped and both men got out of the car, of course Rindou was the driver as usual. They walked up to you slowly and also took out cigarettes, which they lit and inhaled. 

“So, gentlemen... We have to work together again.” Ran smiled crookedly and Rindou nodded to you in a slightly more friendly gesture, to which you returned the same. 

“Any explanation as to why we have to go there together?” Sanzu asked, ignoring the teasing tone of the taller brother's voice. 

“Akabane has announced that he will not pay us under any circumstances and is ending his cooperation.” Rindou spoke up. 

“Is this a joke?” Sanzu looked at him and blinked a few times. “What is this idiot thinking? Who does he think we are? A gang from the backyard, for fuck's sake?” 

“He's grown in feathers, you can't blame him.” You put out your cigarette listening to Ran's comment. “I knew he shouldn't be indulged.” 

“Who indulged him?” Sanzu got irritated, throwing the cigarette butt. “This fucker will learn a lesson and tuck his tail between his legs.” 

You looked at your butts, feeling your bad feeling only deepen. 

“You can still get along with Naoko normally, she's a good girl, but you have to keep Koji by the throat all the time.” Rindou nodded. “Y/n, what the hell are you doing?” 

You looked at him, hiding your cigarette butt and the one belonging to Sanzu in your handkerchief. All three men were looking at you as if you had grown an extra head. You felt a little embarrassed, but you shrugged and put the bundle in your jacket pocket. 

“I have a bad feeling. It's just evening and there's a police station nearby. If there's any use of force...” You patted your pocket. “They better not find any traces.” 

Your companions looked at you in silence for a moment, then Rindou turned to his brother. 

“Y/n is right, brother. Better safe than sorry.” 

“Fuck, you spend too much time with your sister.” The other grumbled and put out his cigarette, passing the butt to his younger brother, who looked at it with an unreadable expression, as if he wanted to protest, but in the end did the same as you. 

“Since when are you so careful, huh?” Sanzu asked calmly, but before you could answer him, he smiled and waved his hand. “Anything that will make you calmer.” 

“There are no cameras here, right?” Rindou asked suddenly. 

“We didn’t put them in the parking lot.” The pink-haired man answered him, looking around carefully. “No. I can’t see anything. Besides, even if they put something somewhere, we have the right to take all the recordings or simply delete them.” 

“Should we enter through the back entrance or the front?” Ran asked calmly. 

“The back entrance, it’ll be closer to the office.” Sanzu answered and you all walked up to the large metal door and the man extended his open hand towards you. “Key.” 

You pulled the key from your pants pocket that you had earlier taken out of the glove compartment of your car and handed it to your boss. The man inserted it into the keyhole and tried to turn it to unlock the lock. The key didn’t budge. Haruchiyo tried to turn it again, but still without any effect. 

“The son of a bitch changed the lock.” He said in disbelief and looked at you. “Do you get it? The son of a bitch changed the lock.” 

Ran pushed him away from the door and tried to insert the key into the keyhole again, moving his hand but the effect was the same. He pulled out the key and handed it back to you, while nodding to his brother. 

“Rindou.” The younger Haitani took a small case containing a set of lockpicks from the inside pocket of his jacket and crouched in front of the metal door and began fiddling with the lock. 

“We better get ready.” Sanzu said as he pulled out his weapon. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch.” 

You looked around again, checking if anyone could see you, but everything was fine. After a short while, there was a quiet click and Rindou put away the lockpicks. He stood up from his crouched position and pulled out his gun. 

“Ready. We can go in.” He pulled the handle, and the door opened without a sound, which gave you a slight advantage. 

You entered and walked carefully down the narrow corridor, which was immersed in semi-darkness. On the way, you passed the staff toilets, which you checked immediately and when they turned out to be empty, you headed straight to the half-closed office door. Through the gap between the door and the frame, you could see the light on and every now and then you could hear snatches of some conversation. 

“... I don't know...” A male voice said, and after a moment a female one answered him. 

“... bad idea... You can't...” 

“Shut up!” Another man shouted and there was a slap and a short cry from a woman. 

“Leave it…” The first man said. “Bonten… fucked up…” 

“Sato was weak! Stop crying!” Another slap and this time you could clearly hear the woman’s sobs that she was trying to muffle. 

You stopped in the hallway and looked at each other. There were probably only three people in the room, but you couldn’t be completely sure. The woman shouldn’t be a problem. 

Sanzu bristled and walked to the door with a confident step, you immediately followed. He kicked it and aimed his gun at one of the men, and you immediately aimed your gun at the other. Ran and Rindou entered the office right behind you. 

“Fuck...” A man around your age jumped up from behind the desk, but seeing Ran aiming a gun at him, he froze. A shot from one gun could have missed, but from two... The chances were slim. 

“How nice of you to be here, Koji.” Sanzu said in a contemptuous tone, addressing the man standing right next to the terrified woman, whose face was wet with tears. She was holding her hand to her reddened cheek, and blood was seeping from her nose. “Naoko. I see you have company.” 

“Shut up, dog.” The stranger growled, and Sanzu's gun went off, sending a bullet right next to the guy's head. 

“One more word from you, and I swear I'll blow your head off.” He hissed. “Who the fuck are you, huh?” 

“Kiss my ass.” Wrong answer, oh, very wrong... There was another bang and a scream as the man fell into the chair behind him. He grabbed his arm, blood gushing from between his fingers. 

“You son of a bitch!” He groaned in pain, and Sanzu laughed, waving his weapon. "You fucker..." 

“You're lucky I'm having a fairly good day today.” He stepped closer to the desk and peered into the man’s face. “I’ve changed my mind. I’d love to play interrogation with you.” 

“Fuck if I tell you…” 

You glanced at Koji, who was being searched by Rindou, but as soon as you heard another scream from the injured man, you looked in his direction. Sanzu had broken his nose, which was bleeding profusely. 

“Don’t leave a mess, Sanzu.” Ran spoke up, helping the woman up from the floor. “If even one small drop of his blood is left here…” 

“I know, I know. Stop groaning.” 

“Should I tie him up?” You asked and Sanzu looked at you over his shoulder. 

“Sure. Tie his hands with a belt from his pants. You can take the other one from the traitor.” 

You did as you were told and as you moved away from the immobilized, wounded man, you saw anger mixed with fear in his eyes. Sanzu turned to Koji, who was glaring at him. 

“You.” He nodded at him. “Will you cooperate?” 

“Go fuck your bitch…” He growled and Sanzu shot him right between the eyes. 

“Wrong answer.” He grumbled, ignoring the woman's desperate cry, and turned back to the strange man. “And now, my friend, maybe you'll finally introduce yourself nicely, huh?” 

The other clenched his teeth, blood dripping from his nose onto his already bloody shirt. 

“Oh, I see I'm going to have some fun.” Haruchiyo smiled widely, a mad glint appearing in his eyes. “I haven't had the chance to do this in a long time. Wonderful!” 

You looked back at the woman, who had moved away from her husband's body. She hid her face in both hands and whimpered briefly. Ran ran his hand over her shoulder and she looked at him, nodded and turned her eyes, red from crying, to Sanzu. 

“I'll tell you everything.” Her voice was shaking, but she tried to give it strength. “I'll tell you anything you want. I'll cooperate.” 

“I know you will, honey. You always cooperate with Bonten.” Sanzu said in a bored tone, not sparing her a glance. “Take her to the room at the end of the hall, where the strippers' changing rooms are, and question her.” 

“Sure.” Rindou said, and together with his brother, they led Naoko out of the office, closing the door behind them. 

“Now…” Sanzu circled the desk, running his finger along its surface. “Where were we?” He pulled a small folding knife out of his pocket and unfolded it. “Ah, yeah. Who the fuck are you, huh?” 

You slipped your hand behind the back of the man tied to the chair and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, handing it to your companion. He opened it and pulled out the man’s driver’s license. 

“Uh-huh… Mr. Shigeo Hoshino. That’s a start.” He smiled as he sat down on the desk. “So, Mr. Hoshino… What brings you here?” 

“Go fuck yourself…” 

“Maybe later.” Sanzu pursed his lips slightly. “You’re here on business, right?” 

“You’re wasting your time. That bitch, Akabane, will tell you everything.” 

“Let's start with the fact that Naoko is not a whore but a loyal employee...” Sanzu started to play with the knife, and the man's eyes followed the blade he was holding. “And you're trash, from whom we'll extract information anyway and won't let go so quickly...” 

“You won't let me go at all.” The other spat blood. 

Haruchiyo rolled his eyes, smiled and slightly shrugged one shoulder. “True, but it depends only and solely on you how quickly you die.” 

“I advise you to cooperate.” You said in the man's ear, ignoring the gangster's warning look. 

The man swallowed hard but shook his head. “No way. Otherwise, my family will suffer.” 

“Ha! See? You’re already starting to talk.” Sanzu laughed. “My colleague… I’m sorry, my friend…” He gestured at you. “He can give you his word that if you tell us what we want to hear, we’ll make an exception and not hurt your family. What do you think, Mr. Hoshino?” 

“What kind of guarantee can I have, huh? None!” 

“On the contrary.” The pink-haired man leaned forward slightly. “Do you have children?” 

The man hesitated, but his lips twisted into a grimace. “It’s none of your business.” 

Sanzu sighed dramatically and plunged the tip of the knife into the man's bullet wound, moving it around. Hoshino screamed in pain and took a few sharp breaths. When your companion withdrew the knife, a prolonged howl escaped the man's mouth. 

"I told you, cooperate." You threw out casually, watching as the man's head fell to his chest due to losing consciousness. 

You looked at Sanzu and saw nothing but indifference. He raised his bright eyes at you, in which there was no trace of amusement anymore. 

"Terribly weak, huh? For someone who refrains from talking, he has a low tolerance for pain." 

You shrugged and out of the corner of your eye you saw the guy raise his head. “I guess it's not so bad. He's back already.” 

“Okay, nice. We'll give you a head start.” Haruchiyo took another interest in the man. “Is your employer a man or a woman? Think about it and tell us the truth.” 

“A woman…” He gasped, a single tear rolling down his cheeks. “Woman… Mina…” 

“Dear God... Was it really that hard? Hoshino?” Sanzu leaned back and looked at the ceiling. 

“No... No...” Your hostage shook his head and groaned in pain. 

“Thank you.” You patted his good shoulder and Sanzu smiled again. 

“And now another question.” He leaned down and began swinging the knife like a pendulum. “Where is she?” 

“I don’t know…” The man whispered and Sanzu plunged the blade into one of his thighs. “AHHH!!! TOSHIMA! TOSHIMA!” 

“Mina is in Toshima.” The gangster said calmly, looking straight at you. He twisted the blade of the knife a few times and pulled it out of the crying man’s leg. “Great. We’re getting better at working together, aren’t we, Mr. Hoshino?” 

“Yes…” 

“Do you have any other secrets you’d like to share with us?” 

The man shook his head weakly, but you knew that this answer wouldn't satisfy your friend and you were right, because another howl was heard from the man as Sanzu stabbed him in the other thigh. This time he did it several times in different places and judging by the rapidly growing blood stain, he had severed the aorta. 

"Fuck... We weren't supposed to make a mess." You said, watching the blood drip onto the floor, creating a puddle. You clenched your hand in the man's hair and tilted his head back. 

"Oh, well. We have cleanup people." Sanzu stood up from the desk and in one smooth movement cut Mr. Hoshino's throat. Blood spurted from his neck, splashing a part of the jacket and pants of the pink-haired gangster. “Fuck... Well... That leaves us with Naoko. You can always count on this girl.” 

You let go of the man's head and pulled out your phone to call the cleaning crew, but Sanzu raised his hand. 

“I'll call. Go check on Ran and Rindou.” You nodded and walked out of the office into the narrow hallway. 

You opened the door to the changing room you had already been to a few weeks ago looking for a drunk Sanzu and everyone looked at you. The interrogation seemed to be over, as the woman had already dried her tears with the handkerchief she held in her hands, and her posture was one of relief. 

“Sanzu made a mess, didn't he?” Ran's tone of voice expressed tiredness and when you just shrugged he shook his head disapprovingly. 

“You know how he is.” 

“Yeah... Mina, or rather Minako Hakugawa is in Toshima. She owns a restaurant and doesn't hide. She is often accompanied by a tall, man with piercing eyes.” Rindou said and the woman nodded. 

“It could be Yuu.” You said, remembering your stepbrother’s eyes, which seemed to be staring at you from the photos your father had in your family home. “What are you going to do now? Are you going with us to Mikey’s?” 

“No. Our mission is done.” Ran said, standing up from the chair he was sitting on. “We’ll take Naoko to her house and go back to our place.” 

You nodded and all of you left the room full of dressing tables and various lewd clothes that belonged to the girls working in the club. You decided to take the two brothers and the woman to the back exit and you winced slightly when you saw Naoko quicken her pace, passing the wide open door to the office where her husband’s dead body lay. 

“Sanzu, we’re leaving.” Ran said, peeking inside and you could see from his profile that he wasn’t pleased with the sight he saw there. 

You said goodbye to them and watched as Rindou let the woman into the back of the car, in which they drove off in a direction known only to them. You closed the metal door and returned to the pink-haired man, who in the meantime had managed to find portable drives on which recordings from cameras placed throughout the nightclub were saved. 

“We're taking this with us and getting out of here as soon as the cleaning crew shows up.” He said to you in a calm tone, handing you the unplugged devices. 

You looked down at them and pursed your lips slightly. 

“What's wrong with you? You're not softening up, are you?” Sanzu laughed. 

“I feel like I know this Mina.” 

“This again, Y/n? We've already discussed this, honey...” He sighed, starting to get irritated. 

“I know, but it's not that.” 

“Can you explain?” 

“I feel like I've really met her before.” 

“Where and when?” 

“I don't know.” You replied after a moment, looking up at your lover's face. “I don't know how to explain it.” 

"Could you at least try?" Sanzu encouraged you in a calm tone. 

You clenched your hands around the portable drives and after a few seconds, you relaxed them slightly. “Have you ever had the feeling that some events were completely different than you remembered them?” 

“Sometimes. It depends on what you were focused on at the time. Over time, when other people tell you the events from their point of view, your memory becomes distorted.” Sanzu answered you calmly. 

“Yes, but that’s not it.” 

“Okay, so what? Are you telling me that you have two different memories related to the same event?” The man snorted in amusement. “I take drugs, and you have the effects, Y/n?” 

“I'm serious.” You frowned slightly, turning your head towards the guy tied to the chair and giving your voice seriousness. “Sometimes I get the impression that my family should be dead.” 

Your companion fell silent and you felt his watchful gaze on you. You were tempted to look at him, but you focused on the wound gaping across the man's throat. 

“What do you mean they should be dead?” 

“Exactly what that means. They should be in the cemetery with my mom.” You shook your head slightly. “It's like something is forcibly trying to replace my memories with new ones...” 

“What do you remember?” The calm, yet cold tone of Sanzu's voice caught your attention and you looked back into the gangster's bright eyes. 

“Right... They're just short snapshots, and when I try to focus on them, they disappear.” 

Haruchiyo searched your face with his watchful gaze and you could have sworn there was a glint of understanding in them, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come and the man shrugged. 

“You watch too much TV.” He said in an indifferent tone and brushed loose strands of hair from your forehead. “Don’t worry about it. Take the portable drives to the car and wait for the guys.” He stroked your cheek and kissed your other one. “I'll just browse around here for a while and join you, okay?” 

You nodded, trying to smile, but it didn’t work out so well and the man pursed his lips. 

“You’ll see, once we find this Mina, you’ll realize it’s just your imagination. You’re tired of all this chasing after your brother.” 

You sighed quietly and this time your lips stretched into a gentle smile. You leaned in slightly and kissed Haruchiyo. 

“I’m sure you’re right, thank you.” 

As soon as the metal door closed behind you and you felt a colder breeze on your face, your enthusiasm vanished. You had a feeling that standing face to face with Minako Hakugawa wouldn’t answer the questions circulating in your head but would actually create a new one. 

<PREVIOUS/NEXT>

[tewwor]

STATS .

name: kong siwoo

age: late 30s / early 40s

height: 6'2'' ????

gender & sexuality: cis man ; he/him & bisexual

occupation: retired detective ; middleman

fc: woo doh.wan / son suk.ku

STRENGTHS.

proficient in hand-to-hand combat

decent marksman

peak detective soft & hard skills

HISTORY .

tw: adultery, mentions of domestic abuse & negligence

general reason why siwoo became a detective in the first place. if, perhaps, he was only raised by his mom? and she also told him — oh, i don't know — how his dad's gone missing? no one knows where he is and she puts on a show of being upset about it for his sake. and, hey, she really sells it! he believes her! gets way into crime and the justice system and is dead set on becoming a detective from that original spark of wanting to find his dad.

eventually, he does find his dad. finds out that he's just some lowlife piece of shit. treated his mom horrendously and ultimately left the two of them for someone else — probably someone younger. then, he has to sit with that knowledge. look back on all the years he sank into this one way conviction that this is truly what he wanted for that very specific reason. the hell's he supposed to do with that shit? what then?

MISC. FACTS & HEADCANONS .

interests: smoking, cheese, chinese food

dislikes: entertaining customers, blatant rudeness, sweet foods

10000% will say he doesn’t speak japanese….. in japanese :-) he’ll also mix japanese and korean in the same sentence — also knows a good amount of mandarin, probably some cantonese, definitely english

if you call him ajussi, he’ll try a put a cigarette out on you probably.

siwoo has a) gotten rigorous training as a detective and b) served in the korean military

i do believe that siwoo has either seriously injured or murdered at least 1 or 2 people since his business as a middleman. is it his favorite thing to do? no, but his hand’s been forced ( so he says ). he’s decent with the use of his physique, but even better with his words and logistics. hence, he never brings up the option to enact violence himself.

he has dismembered a body at least once and holds a surprising amount of knowledge of it.

he’s so fr about tropical fish. got some catalogues at home.

doesn’t stay in contact with his family anymore, but does have a soft spot for his nieces and nephews. helped raise them back in the day.

in regards to gift giving, he just gives out cash ( fully knows it's impersonal but at least he's not giving out gift cards ). probably in a happy birthday or get well soon card ( neither coincide with the right occasion ). but he'll treat them to a meal?

siwoo isn’t the best cook out there, but he knows the basics from home. mostly korean cuisine, but there’s a few japanese dishes he’s figured out to make. most of them are for quick meals or something to have while incredibly hungover or sick. yes, his juk is killer.

he 100% got toji and his lil’ once family to watch kdramas a handful of times. no one can tell me otherwise. it’s his guilty pleasure and, hey, sometimes the plot really does make a guy feel something. ( not this one, i just thought it was funny )

tries not to smoke around kids so he usually has a toothpick in his mouth instead.

yeah, he expects toji to pour for him when theyre drinking… something something being older than him

despite never talking about his own family … at all, he does occasionally go out of his way to pay respects. does the bare minimum lbr, but hey — he thinks it counts.

that being said, there have been instances where he’s attended funerals and stuck in a lit cigarette instead of incense when paying respects to the deceased ( or disrespect ig )

some part of me wants to say that some distant relative or a few of siwoo’s was probably a mudang. it’d make sense with him being able to see curses — which also makes me believe he does know some practices / exorcisms himself. he just never does it because why should he?

if you do want to know where i draw my inspiration on how siwoo would actually fight — watch the roundup ( the first one with son sukku — his character specifically )

in regards to siwoo being a top or bottom …. i just think it takes a whole lotta work to convince him for the latter. reach for the sky and above type of convincing. a shoot for the stars, but the gun misfired type of deal.

9 times out of 10, he’s keeping his clothes on during sex :/ 10 times out of 10, his partner won’t :/

likes to leave marks and press on them later. not too hard or anything ( unless his partner(s) is into that ) but more as a visual possession thing.

VERSES .

main — still working as a middleman for literally anyone for anything.

modern day — general criminal liaison, middleman, etc. can fit into any general crime and/or supernatural setting

[a-chaotically-small-lunta]

Merchild (5)

Part 4 : Part 6

Randy’s gotta drop off some fish, and then get back to Jade who really wants to show him what she’s found.

Warnings: Not any really.

Watching Jade dive back into the water calmed Randy a bit. He really didn’t want her to just hang out on the beach. A part of him wished she could but, what if someone saw her? What if Bruce or Eugene came by and saw her? He knew they were on lookout for a mermaid thanks to Bruce seeing her but still. He didn’t want to risk it, especially since he would be there to protect or cover for her if they did show up. Randy didn’t know what those two were planning to do once they found evidence of her or just Jade in general and he did not want to find out.

He loaded his truck with the three crates, silently wishing he had more. Randy wasn’t thinking yesterday when he caught all those fish. He knew he didn’t have many crates cause why have a bunch of you aren’t going to use them? He barely filled one so having a bunch of extra felt like a waste of space. Maybe now he could try getting more. He knew the five from yesterday were still at Wilson’s since he likes to use them as a display or for storing the fish, but he always gave them back the next day so it didn’t bother Randy. He hopped into his truck and drove off. Occasionally glancing over at the sea.

I wonder what she said, he thought to himself. The first time when she was frustrated was a bit scary. He had seen that kind of frustration from Andrew when he couldn’t figure out how to draw a cat, and just huffed and gave up. So Randy knew she was upset that she couldn’t do something but what? But when she showed up so upset, for a split second Randy was scared that she might hurt him. She was bigger then him, he was basically like a teddy bear to her! So it would’ve been bad if she wanted to do something to him. But when she slumped down, the fear disappeared with just a bit left tingling in his hands. Randy continued to think about that moment as he pulled into Wilson’s shop.

“Oh early today Mmh?” It was Lashunda. She was poking her head out the window of the back.

“Haha! Yeah didn’t have many crates left so I just filled the ones I got,” Randy replied closing the trucks door behind him.

Lashunda walked out and joined him in unloading the filled crates. They each took one and walked inside, setting them by the station where they’d be prepped. Jabari was sitting nearby reading a book, and looked up when he heard the two enter.

“Mind grabbing the last crate Jabari?” Lashunda asked.

Jabari sighed with a shrug, before hopping up and heading out to grab the crate.

“Need help with these ones today?” Asked Randy as Jabari carried the last crate inside.

“Nah, I’m pretty bored today so you just have me something to do. Dad’s out in town doing his thing and Brandon is out fishing right now…at least that’s what he said he was doing. Bet he’s taking a nap right now to be honest, haha! And well It’s Wednesday so Maria is at school.”

“Heh alright, I’ll let you have something to do for once. Since you seem sooooo bored,” Randy chuckled which got him an eye roll from Lashunda.

“Anyway here,” she handed him a wad of cash, “that’s for the fish yesterday. Decent amount this time.”

Randy was genuinely surprised by it but he didn’t know if it was from the amount or from the fact he hadn’t gotten this much in awhile.

“Uh thanks! Got the crates? Oh and any extra ones?”

“Mmh don’t know about extra ones, but we got your crates. They’re just outside the door for ya.”

“Thanks Lashunda, I’ll get them. Enjoy your fish gutting.”

Lashunda waved him off as he walked out of the house. Spotting the empty and cleaned out crates, he packed them back into his truck.

Damn, he thought to himself, I have the whole afternoon free from work if I wanted. I mean I could fill these crates but then I wouldn’t have any for tomorrow…perhaps I should just go back home.

A grin crossed Randy’s face. Perhaps, he thought, I’ll try and see what Jade was saying earlier. He hopped into his truck and headed back home.

While on his drive he was thinking about what she had said; Before he had left and after he told her to go back underwater she shook her head no, Yet she still went under, so what was she saying? One thing was for sure though; she could learn to speak. When she had said boat earlier it truly impressed Randy, he didn’t think it was possible. Although it seemed that if she were to learn more words there’d be trouble. Probably something to do with how certain sounds were made for certain words to be formed. He didn’t know the science of it but he didn’t really care. Randy was just excited to see Jade speaking words he could understand.

Eventually he pulled back to his home and parked his truck. Randy’s home was nice and cozy. It was small but had enough room for a family. It was his great grandfather’s home and just kept getting passed down to the eldest kid. His grandma got it, then his dad, then Randy. It was old, had to be fixed up a few times but it was nice. It sat under a large cliff, with large rocks scattered the beach. It wasn’t the prettiest of sights but, when the sun rose in the morning, it was a beautiful sight to see.

Randy looked out to the sea and smiled, he just got an idea. Quickly running into the house he ran through up to his room. Tossing his keys onto the bedside table, he opened up the drawer underneath his bed. Digging through the underwear and socks he eventually felt it, and quickly pulled it out. His swim trunks. He knew he didn’t need them and could just jump into the water with just shorts on but, he wanted to have some fun today.

Quickly changing into the swim trunks, he tossed on a white shirt and walked back outside. Walking along the beach towards his dock where his fishing boat gently bobbed in the waves. He walked along the dock, making sure to avoid the more broken bits of it, he made his way to the end. With a relieved sigh he sat down and let his feet dangle off the dock, as he watched the waves of the sea.

After a few moments he saw her, she slowly popped her head above the water looking over at him, before her head fully popped out with excited wiggles from her fins and a bright smile. Jade happily swam over with a bright smile, gently wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She started clicking and saying things that Randy really didn’t understand but she seemed excited.

Jade let go and swam back with an excited and bright smile. Randy felt a smile escape him before he got stood up.

“Alright, I don’t know what’s got you excited but, I hope you don’t mind just going for a swim,” he tossed his white shirt off onto the dock before jumping into the water with a splash.

Randy swam up and treaded the water a bit, taking in a big breath. He dove under a bit and slowly blinked his eyes under the water, so they could get used to it. He knew this probably wasn’t the best for his eyes but, he didn’t care when he was 10 and he’s not gonna start now.

He popped back up to see that Jade had swam up to him, curious about what was happening. Her head tilted at him.

“What’s wrong? Do I swim weird? Well you got a whole tail and fins! Of course I’m going to swim weird compared to you, haha!” He laughed as she seemed more confused but slightly amused.

The two swam about for a bit, getting used to swimming together…well more like Randy trying to keep up with Jade’s swimming and Jade happily showing off her tricks. She would swim down and back up, jumping out of the water with a flip and a smile. It was amazing to watch. He also noticed that her scales were all green. The started out green near her head and torso, then the green became slowly lighter in hue, eventually some of those started to have bits of yellow-ish color on them, and some that were more yellow than green had faded to an almost white color with a gentle touch of orange along the edge of them. Her tail and fins had this same effect, but it was amazing to see. Randy wondered if the colors meant anything or if they were just genetics.

Jade then dived down, waiting for Randy to join her again. Taking another breath he dived back down under the water, and he watched as Jade did the same. It was amazing to see her in her element. She quickly swam down past him with twists and turns, quick little flicks from her fins and tail. It was like watching a dancer dancing on stage with no worries. She had some amazing skills for just a kid, but maybe that’s cause she lived her whole life in water. Maybe what was impressive to him was just a normal thing for mermaids.

Jade swam further down and Randy followed for a bit. She was fast compared to him, and he was almost upset by that fact. He couldn’t believe he was getting outdone by a kid…then again said kid was a giant mermaid so maybe he should feel bad about this.

Jade swam down further and waved her arm, trying to get Randy to come further down. It was almost to dark to see but, he could tell she was trying to get him into what looked like an underwater cave. I can’t hold my breath for that long, he thought to himself before quickly swimming back up. He watched as Jade came up with confusion written all over her face.

“Sorry Jade, I can’t hold my breath that long. Don’t think I’d survive in a cave of water.” He said looking at her.

She was still confused, he needed to explain that he didn’t have gills like her. That’s it!

He swam closer to her and motioned her to lower herself a bit. She hesitatingly did so. Randy in that moment froze. Looking at her closely, studying her. Her seaweed like hair dripping water, sloppily flopped into the water. Her yellow eyes studied him with confusion and curiosity. The ear like fins on her head would occasionally twitch or flick. He then spotted them, her gills. They were alongside her neck.

“See these?” He asked while gently touching her gills, causing them to rapidly twitch shut from contact, “oh um…well those are your gills…I think….and I don’t have those, ”He swam back a bit but, moved his head so his neck was exposed.

Randy watched as Jade reached up to touch her neck, feeling the edges of her gills, all the while looking at his neck. She then reached out. A part of Randy screamed to move and that she might hurt him, but another part stayed calm and he focused on that. Her hand reached over and her claws gently touched his neck, feeling the smooth gill-less texture. Jade was amazed, as she touched her gills and his non-gills. She then giggled as his beard hair had tickled her. She pulled back and Randy felt a sigh of relief escape him. He couldn’t have been that nervous could he?

Jade then paused, her brow furrowed in thought, just before and idea popped into her head. She said a few things with clicks and another noises, all the while she extended her hand. She had a wide smile on her face.

Randy looked at Jade and at her outstretched hand, “I don’t know what you are thinking, or what you’re going to do…but I need you to know that I can’t breathe underwater,” he said all of this while awkwardly acting it out. Taking breaths above water and then pointing at the water and pretending to die. Jade nodded but insisted that he take her hand, by pushing it towards him more. He sighed, no use reasoning with a child who could literally kill you at any second.

Taking her hand she pulled him into a hug. Holding him like a child would a teddy bear against her chest. She smiled down at him before mimicking taking a breath. He nodded and took a huge breath, and the second he filled his lungs, she dove down.

Randy watched as the water and surrounding rocks rushed past him. He then watched as she dove straight into the cave she had been trying to get him to go into earlier. She gently let him go, holding onto his hand and motioning with the other towards the cave. She clicked a few words, but Randy was more amazed by what he was seeing. The cave was somehow lit up with a soft blue and green glow on the ceiling, and soft sand had made up the floor. The space was huge!

Randy then felt his lungs trying to give out, he quickly tugged at Jade and pointed to himself. Trying to motion that he needed to breathe. She froze confused for a second before quickly nodded, but instead of taking him out of the cave, she rapidly took him into another tunnel of the cave.

Randy was freaking out, he was going to have to take a breath soon and at this rate it’ll be just water! She quickly swam through the tunnel and then with a splash she stopped. Wait a splash?

Randy looked around, and took a few deep breaths. They were still in the cave but, there was an air pocket. Jade gently let go of him, but continued to hold his hand. She pointed up and explained something. Randy looked up and saw plants dangling from the ceiling, covering parts of the wall, and dipping into the water. He could hear a gentle trickle of water somewhere as well, but he was more amazed by the plants. Long vine like plants with gentle magenta, purple, and pink flowers growing in bunches on the vines. Jade reached up and gently held one of the flowers, happily explaining something.

Randy didn’t really need her to explain, even if he could understand her. He knew what this was, The Lungs of the Sea, Sea’s Breath, Mermaid Wishes, Wave Fruit; he knew many of its names. It was only a legend, that everyone believed had disappeared. It was a legend as old as the mermaids but everyone believed it had gone extinct, much like many believed all the mermaids had died or hidden away. It was a plant that would take in water, and turn it into oxygen. He had read every book in the library about the legends of the sea but this one was the most lost. Some books said that ancient sailors would take these plants and eat them or breathe in their seeds, so the plant could take root in their lungs. They could then breathe underwater, however they would forever be stuck living in the water. That or their lungs would burst from the plants wanting to grow, but that was a theory that many people believed actually happened to those ancient sailors.

Either way, Randy couldn’t believe it. This rare and ancient plant was basically and almost literally in his backyard, and no one knew. He was amazed and he then caught Jade looking at him with a cheeky smile.

“You knew this was here? Wow, and I thought I was just gonna drown for a second there, but you knew I wouldn’t…at least I hope that you didn’t just wing it…heh…You’re one smart or lucky cookie.”

Jade happily wiggled her fins and she gently guided Randy over to one of the walls. He noticed that there was a shelf of rock, that acted like a makeshift shore. He noticed that it was wet, despite the rest of the cave being dry. At least the parts not in the water. Jade laid down on the makeshift beach and looks up at the plants, and Randy sat nearby still looking at the slab of rock.

Looking closely he saw that there was a small leak of water flowing into the cave. That was the trickle he heard before, and it ran alongside the slab of rock into the water within the cave. Part of him wondered where it was coming from but that was a mystery for another time perhaps.

Randy looked over at Jade who was relaxing, looking up at the flowers. That’s when Randy got an idea. He quickly stood up and walked around the slab, gathering any fallen flowers from it, and a single long strand of the vine that had fallen. He then walked back to Jade and tapped her head. She paused and looked at him with a “what?” Look. He then gently gathered her hair and pretended to lift her head up. Jade lifted her head and Randy gather all her hair and laid it in the slab.

Giving her a thumbs up, she laid her head back down in confusion. Randy then got to work. Gently separating the hair into three strands, he got started on braiding it.

As he braided her hair he started humming a tune that his mom would hum to him when he braided her hair.

Randy loved braiding hair, and always did it for his mom when she asked. He didn’t know why he liked doing it but he did. He would even do it for the girls when he went to school. Watching the hair weave into each other into a pattern just soothes him for some reason. Made the chaos of long hair make some sense.

As he continued humming the tune he eventually heard Jade join in. She was soft at first and paused when she got the note wrong or just didn’t know the next part, but would pick it back up. Randy was a bit surprised that he didn’t fall into a trance, like the tales said. It said that a mermaid’s singing voice or even a gentle hum would lure sailors to their doom, but here he was perfectly fine. Maybe that tale was wrong.

The two hummed together as Randy braided Jade’s hair. Gently he placed some of the flowers into the braid as he went along. Once the hair was all braided he tied it up with the vine, at the very end.

“There we are,” Randy said, “Hope you like it”

Jade sat up and grabbed the braid and pulled it over her shoulder to get a better look at it. Her eyes widened in amazement as she gently caressed some of the flowers weaved into the braid. She turned to Randy and scooped him into a hug.

“Oh! Your wel-Come! You’re kinda Squ-EEzing me!” He said as he was hugged a bit too hard. He’s definitely going to have some bruising from this.

Jade placed him back down and slid into the water a bit more, all the while laying on her stomach. She then yawned and her eyes started to look sleepy.

“Woah someone’s tired. Must be pretty late then huh?”

She hummed and sank into her arms, as her eyelids started to sag.

“Heh, well…I’ll let you rest then…guess I’ll be stuck down here for a bit until you wake up huh?”

He turned back but before could fully process it she had fully adjusted herself on the rock slab and gently wrapped herself around him.

“Ohhhh…good thing the water is…and isn’t? Too deep…I don’t know anymore.”

Jade wrapped her arm around him and pulled him close, much to his surprise. She then drifted off to sleep.

“Guess I don’t get much of a choice…man Trisha’s gonna think I’m dead again. Just don’t pull me into the water okay sweet girl?”

Randy gently patted her face, and just laid there. He was glad the water wasn’t deep enough that he could drown in his sleep. He was also grateful that Jade’s tail was diverting the water away from him, making a makeshift island in the center of her curled form. Randy laid back against Jade with a smile. If he fell asleep, he should be okay. She’s gentle, definitely a kid who got tired real fast but still a gentle kid.

Randy would soon drift off to sleep laying against Jade, thinking about how his luck is changing and how it’s so weird.

[desceros]

i'm SO bad at making money in stardew valley but i'm SO tempted to get two purple turtles and name them donatello and viola-chan [cries]

i did name mine donatello, and i can confirm that it's SO satisfying. so you have two choices.

one is to take your time, the money will come eventually, etc etc, honk shoo honk shoo

two is to abandon all morals, embrace T H E M A C H I N E, and get your fuckin turtles. i'll give you a few tips based on which skills you like the best so you can gear towards those! i'll rank them in order of most to least efficient in terms of gameplay hours, in my experience. under a cut because i have almost 2k hours in this game And i read the wiki for fun. of course you can do, like, the non coconuts version of these suggestions if you're looking for something more low-key hahaha

farming: this is the biggest money maker hands down. if you have the island unlocked, fill that thing with as much starfruit as you can afford. go to the desert and plant a bunch of oak trees, then tap them so you can get a bunch of oak resin. in the beginning, you can sell as many starfruits as you need (unprocessed) in order to buy up more seeds; otherwise, keep them for processing into wine. start filling up your island farm that isn't farmland with the kegs. fill them up as you make them. sell the wine. you can make hundreds of thousands in a week doing this once you start scaling up and fill the entire farm. you can also do pineapples or ancient seeds which over time will be more profitable since you don't have to buy the seeds, but i find these take a lot longer to get started, so i personally prefer the starfruit. you can also just sell the unprocessed starfruit as it is, and it'll make you coconuts amounts of cash, but it's less efficient than turning it into wine. also, dont worry about aging it. that takes way too long for it to be your sole money maker.

sleeping: on the left side of your island farm, plant a fairy rose. then surround it as much as you can with bee hives. if you do this a couple times, you can get some serious cash by doing literally nothing but passing time.

mining: skull caverns runs where you farm iridium are pretty bog standard in speed runs. first thing to know is that the desert trader will swap jade for staircases on sunday. you'll get a crystalarium out of the community center bundle for the vault; put a jade in it as soon as you can. scale this up as quickly as you can, then get as many staircases as you can. next, you'll want to block pam's door with a chair so she gets to the bus a little more quickly. then have some coffee (or triple shot espresso if you can) on hand, and some luck food (think spicy eel, that sort of thing.) get as many bombs as you can make (or explosive ammo if you can afford it). staircase down as far as you can, then start blowing shit up. don't worry about the enemies. you're here for M O N E Y not glory. salads or gold-star cheese are good foods to keep on hand to keep your health up. magnetism is very important here, so you'll want to have either a magnet ring, a glowstone ring, or an iridium band equipped. come back, smelt all your iridium up, and sell it. you can also do this with radioactive ore when you get there, but it's a lot less reliable than this method. plus you'll get a bunch of other stuff in skull cavern to sell, too.

animals: pigs are the most efficient, though also the most labor-intensive animal. they'll find truffles, and with the farming boost of 40% to artisan goods, it's always profitable to turn them into oil. especially with the new blue grass, it's easy to get to where each pig is finding you several truffles a day. you can also do goats for their cheese and age it in the basement, which is a pretty decent money-maker. ostriches are quite good as well, once you unlock them. i usually have one barn filled with ostriches, and another filled with all the other animals. coop is pretty lackluster in my opinion, best filled with rabbits so you can get lots of feet for gifts.

fishing: so this can actually be a pretty good moneymaker now that 1.6 has buffed it quite a bit. the best way in my opinion is to make some lava eel bait, go to the top of the volcano, fish up lava eels all day, and smoke them. you can make a good chunk of cash this way. also crabpots are very underrated, especially if you have either an ocean of bait makers and the perk to get rid of trash (not my preferred method since i use the trash to get refined quartz), or the perk that makes it so they don't require bait and thus you just collect that good shit every morning. (sidebar, this is a really good way of getting fish for deluxe fertilizer if you're a crafting-type person.) fishponds are.... not great? tbh? so unless you're looking for something very specific (like caviar, the spicy eel drop from lava eels) i don't really bother with them much anymore.

combat: find the new parrot trinket. try to get at least level three if you can, though obvs. the higher the better. pop on some monster musk, go in the mines (best is the dangerous skull cavern mines since that has a 2x monster spawn rate, but if you aren't there yet, i recommend levels 55-70 of the regular mines since those have sprites which are Hella easy to kill, drop coal, and there are a metric shit ton of them), and farm away. this is easier if you use the hammer style (acrobat+artful+3x ruby enchants), as you can abuse the special attack and get massive aoe damage. with the parrot, he picks up a bit of money from time to time, more as his level goes up. you can make some Serious cash doing this. plus selling the drops, things you mine up, etc.

foraging: i..... tried for a long time to think of a good way to make money with foraging. i suppose technically the tree saps would be foraging? and they're.... okay? you could sell wood and hardwood but it's such a waste considering they're so important in crafting. if you're the kind of player who likes to spend all day wandering around the valley looking for forageables, more power to you, but pick one of the passive ways to make money and then have fun doing this. if you want two purple turtles, it's going to take you Years to do it through foraging.

[oneforthemunny]

i hope this isn't crude or anything but just curious because i think i'll need this when i write a fic for your summer game

who's the richest eddie and who's the... not richest?

not crude at all! I’m excited you’re writing for it ahhhh!!!

from highest to lowest:

rockstar!eddie- honestly he invests a lot once he gets with nepo baby and they have a lot of stakeholders in businesses. she does the same but her net worth combined with his and their business plans and own companies just puts them at the top.

mafia!eddie - blood money is money and he’s got a lot of it lol. he’s high up on the pecking order, very high up. and he’s probably very close to rockstar!eddie’s but he just kinda spends it however he wants.

cowboy!eddie - not even in the same tax bracket as the others lol but he has a family ranch, he’s a fucking really good horse trainer so he gets a lot of rich people who want pristine show horses trained and makes good money off that. plus his own competitions and some of that press brings in a little change. the ranch is paid off and so is most everything else that his grandparents left him so he’s pretty well taken care of.

older!eddie- he’s worked really hard and is definitely way better off than he ever thought he would be. he worked hard when brie came around and saved and worked his way up, and besides the set back of the divorce, he’s done really well with his money. comfortable, really. enough to afford a vacation once every few years if he books early in advanced and saves, and enough to not have to worry about making payments on time, but not well off by any means. he’s worked for it.

janitor!eddie- is very close to older!eddie. he’s worked for it, saved for it. not as much just bc he’s not as old, but the two of you try very hard to be smart with your money and make it so you’re comfortable with some extra wiggle room and still can put in savings.

modern!eddie- has a decent amount of cash for his age, but he’s not like rolling in cash. his is drug money but he’s like very close to the bottom of the food chain, just a dealer. so he gets a decent cut, enough to buy silly stupid twenty two year old boy purchases but not enough to go crazy on.

bouncer!eddie- he’s broke but like he’s not worried about it lol. he’s young and he makes good money at the hideout and the landscaping in the summer (yeah I’m hcing he has like other odd ball jobs lol) but he does not save money. at all. not that he’d have a lot to save but he’s like “fuck it I’m gonna buy what I want” lol

[teasandcardigans]

mads? doing fics? since when?

anyways i’ve been doing some oc writing for a bit now and love this piece so much i wanted to share. behold kiara, in all her vengeful idiotic glory <3 i love her

🩷

those cuts were never equal

characters: kiara savon & family

tags/warnings: bad ending, bad family relationships, horrible parenting, verbal fighting, “running away,” disowning

🩷

He’d be furious. Kiara knew the look he would have on his face as soon as he heard she bailed. He was probably on his way to the house to ream her until he was blue in the face, but Kiara wasn’t planning to be here to witness his fury.

Her father had given her an ultimatum, and Kiara planned to make good on the deal.

She was stuffing as much as she could take into duffle bags and when those ran out, trash bags. Her clothes, her books, her quilt. A few journals, her laptop, and a photo album. Things she felt she couldn’t leave without. Kiara dug under her bed, ripping out a small sparkly purse. She counted the small amount of cash she had stowed inside- $340 collected from birthdays and last year’s Christmas. It would be enough to get her to Borden and buy school supplies for the coming semester, but she would have to find a job. Kiara didn’t know what she would even be able to do well.

Kiara’s bedroom door opened, which had her stuffing the cash into her purse as quickly as she could.

“Running off so soon? I thought you’d at least stay for dinner.”

Kiara glared, trying to finish her packing. If her sister was home, it was only a matter of time before he was too. “Shut up, Daria.”

Daria smiled, leaning in the doorway. Her pearls glinted in the afternoon light. Kiara wanted to push her out of the way, but she sidestepped her sister to get back out to her car. Daria painstakingly followed, doing her best to rile Kiara up.

“What do you think leaving is going to do?” she questioned loudly. Her hand lifted up to count her arguments. “You have no job, no savings, and no home except for here. You’re hopeless without Papa.”

Kiara grit her teeth, swinging open the back door of her car and shoving another trash bag inside of it. She was running out of room. Maybe it was telling her it was time to go. Just a few more things. A few more.

Slamming her car door shut again, Kiara passed Daria on the front step. She paused momentarily to stare her sister down.

“You are hopeless without him,” she punctuated, not breaking her gaze. “You can’t think without him telling you what to believe.”

Daria shoved her away, stomping off into the driveway. Kiara took it as her opportunity to run back to her room and gather the last few items she wanted to take.

Kiara’s room was the picture perfect depiction of a daughter’s bedroom, minus the hastily packed away pieces. Trophies and medals on shelves, photos framed on the wall, a soft floral bedspread, books adorning her dresser, and a tidy desk full of trinkets and memories. So much of it had been strategically placed to make her mother happy. Personality showed through, but not too much.

Kiara grabbed a small selection of her books, tucking them into her duffle. A few trinkets, ones with decent memories attached to them, found their way into her bag. A crystal butterfly was wrapped in a t-shirt and gently placed in. The pieces of her life she didn’t want to leave behind. Some things would just have to be replaced, a start to a new life away from here, but some things were too precious to leave behind.

Kiara made her way back to the driveway, taking in her home for what she imagined would be the last time. As if her father planned to let her step one inch into this place once she left. She could hear Daria from the parking lot, speaking loudly to someone. Kiara only had two guesses, and they came as a pair most days.

Her mother was listening to Daria as she blabbered on about something, probably Kiara. Meanwhile, her father had her back seat door pulled open and was beginning to rummage through what Kiara had packed. He stood, face pulled tight in anger, and saw her standing in the doorway. Kiara steeled herself. She bounced her bag back over her shoulder and descended to her car.

“Empty the car,” he demanded. Kiara shoved her last bag into the back of her car, opposite from where her father was standing.

Kiara shook her head, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m not staying here, so don’t try to convince me,” she fired back, “You wanted me out. Your words, not mine.”

Her father raised his brows, unimpressed by her rebellion against him.

“I’m not asking you to stay, Kiara,” he answered slowly, as if she wouldn’t understand. Kiara froze where she was, letting the words wash over her before he spoke again.

“I would like my hard-earned belongings returned to my home.”

He couldn’t be serious. Was he serious? Kiara wanted to look up at him and see a playful but challenging expression, like one he so often gave to Daria, but her eyes stayed glued to the bags in her back seat. She willed them not to well with tears. She couldn’t afford to lose composure in front of her father, not when it meant her mother would step in to ease the tension between them.

“Of course,” Kiara replied, forcing her tone to stay even and her voice not to shake. “Of course, it’s about your things. Not your daughter.”

She smacked the car door closed, knowing how much it irked her father to do so, and rounded the front of the car. Her anger sat in her throat, making her face warm with emotion- frustration with her father, embarrassment that she thought he was asking her to stay, resentment that her mother would never fight for her.

“You don’t even want what’s in my car. It doesn’t matter to you,” Kiara accused. “You just want the insane power trip of making me give it all back.”

Kendi scoffed. “Power trip? Hmm. Perhaps you need to understand what it means to work hard and earn what you own.”

Kiara looked at her mother, wishing the look she received in return was one of solidarity, but she only saw resignation and pity in her mother’s eyes. This had been brewing for years. While Daria thrived in Kendi’s hatred for Kiara, their mother had very clearly grown tired of it all. She accepted Kendi for who he was, put on the smile, and said what she needed to in order to keep up appearances. At least, that’s what Kiara wanted to believe. She didn’t want to know if both of her parents were living in an ugly, harmful echo chamber.

“And getting out of here is the first step to doing that,” she snapped back. She watched Kendi meet her at the front of the car, walking slow and casual. Each step felt like a nail in her coffin. Every scrape of his shoes across the concrete made her realize what she was doing. What she was losing.

Her life, her friends, her family, however awful they could be. Did she want to leave that? Force herself to start fresh on her own, where her reputation as a Savon purely by name could isolate her entirely?

When she met her father’s eyes, Kiara knew it was clear she was having second thoughts.

“Rescind your statement. Apologize,” Kendi said, his tone lower. No one in her family was particularly tall, but Kendi was the tallest. Kiara felt the urge to look up at him, but she kept her chin where it was, watching him only with her eyes. “Put your things back inside. Don’t make your mother sad.”

He was giving her an out, a way to take it all back. Kiara could tuck her tail between her legs now and while she knew he wouldn’t forget, Kendi would let her go back to how it was. Her heart pounded in her chest. She would go back to the press, looking like a petulant child who threw a tantrum. Daria would never let her forget that she made it this far before turning back, but they could all move on. Kendi would get his wife and daughters back smiling for photos for the council. It’s exactly what he wants. What her mother probably wants, too.

One perfect, smiling, miserable family.

Kiara didn’t want that.

“No,” she answered, matching his tone. “I’m leaving. I’m going to make a life for myself at Borden, where you can’t touch me.”

Kendi clenched his jaw. “And when you fail, remember you do not have a home here. Get off my property.”

Kiara quelled the rage that bubbled in her chest. Bastard. That’s all he was. A selfish, insane bastard with a ego problem so bad he didn’t even see what he was doing. He was fueled by pride and anger. She hoped his vindictive nature would be his downfall.

“Happily,” she snapped, grabbing her keys from her pocket and ripping the front door of her car open. She heard her mother say her name. Kiara didn’t listen, jamming the key in the ignition and drowning out her mother’s calls for her and Daria’s laughter as the engine began to hum.

She was out of the driveway in seconds. One glance to the front drive told her that her mother was the only one left in the front yard, watching her leave.

Kiara let her eyes drift back to the road. Borden, here she comes.

[cryptictales]

∂єα∂ℓу вєтяαуαℓ’ѕ

| Warnings; dark themes, betrayal, heartbreak, smut, angst, aggression, guilt, violence, all the gooooood shit.

| Pairings; Sam Winchester x Reader, Dean Winchester x Sam Winchester, Lucifer x Reader

| ✩*ೃ.⋆ hey there! Just a quick heads up - if you haven't checked out Chapter 1 yet, I highly recommend giving it a read before diving into this one. Trust me, it'll make your reading experience a whole lot more enjoyable and seamless. Thanks for considering continuing with this one. ✩*ೃ.⋆ small twist towards the ending...

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° .

𝑪𝒉𝒑𝒕 𝑻𝒘𝒐: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑵𝒐𝒘?

"I'm not saying this is ridiculous but Sammy, this is ridiculously stupid," Dean spoke as he loaded up baby, shutting the trunk. He would clear his throat. He could see how much this woman was beginning to mean to his little brother. But it was starting to cloud his mind of the mission at task. Locating Lucifer and finally ganking the son of a bitch.

"Dean, you don't have to come. I can go alone. I just need to make sure she's okay. It's not like her to not call or text, I mean we aren't dating but, what if me not telling her what we really do is the reason she's gone awol?" Sam spoke in a serious tone of voice. He always cared for people, always worried, and speaking from experience this life never given them the opportunity of living anything remotely close to a normal life.

Dean didn't say anything, tapping the top of the car before getting into the driver's side. He would bring the Impala to life with the beautiful pur of her engine, they speeded out of the gravel driveway and onto the road.

--------

Time felt like it moved by slow, the clock on the wall slowly ticking around. 'Tic Toc Tic Toc' his words were cold in her mind. She looked down at the liquid that sat at the bottom of the glass. The bartender made her rounds as she stopped to see if she needed anything else.

"Refill suga?" (Y/N) downing the rest of the liquid in the glass as she shook her head. She reached for a couple of crumbled bills in her jacket pocket when she heard his voice. "Uh actually I got this one covered, can you uh get us two beers?"

"Sure thing honey." The bartender reached for a couple of beers, taking his payment of cash as she left them alone. (Y/N) would take a breath, lifting her head up to meet those hazel hues of the Sam Winchester.

"I uh tried to phone you but uh couldn't get through, I figured I'd find you here."

"Uh yeah, sorry I needed to get going, you know I do have a life too Sam."

"No urm--I didn't mean you didn't I just--uh"

"It's fine Sam.." she would end it at that, reaching for the beer as she quickly gulped down a decent amount to avoid the awkward silence that was already happening between them. It was hard not to think about the fact he and his brother were her targets, conflicted with emotions of finally being understood, but then again Lucifer knew where her sister was...It had placed her in a bind.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay (Y/N).." she would finish off the beer and place it down on the bar top as she turned to him. "Well, don't, it's better that you just forget about me, Sam." She said in a blunt tone of voice, as she moved through the bar and outside. The storm was pouring down, she would be walking towards her car when she felt her arm being pulled turning her around. "Sam I said--" her words interrupted when he smashed his lips against her own, her hands placed against his chest, the rain pouring down over them as if they were playing a scene in a love-sick romantics movie.

Parting slowly, "I know this doesn't make sense, but this--this is real, what we have is real (Y/N)..." she shook her head as she pulled away from his grasp. "It's NOT real Sam, just go! Leave! I---please just go."

Sam didn't understand it, why she was saying what she was saying.

She turned away from him, hearing Lucifer in her mind again as she shook her head, "No, no no please.." She spoke to herself, Sam raising a brow as he was more confused. Stepping closer to her slowly, (Y/N) within an instant slid the blade from her wrist as she turned around she was slammed to the ground by the older Winchester. Her face met the mixture of mud and rain. "You don't know, you don't. I--I have to find her..." she spoke in a broken tone voice. Dean looked up at Sam as he shook his head, and in an instant he knocked her out.

--------------

The younger Winchester paced back and forth outside of the room that they kept her inside. Tied down by rope in the chair, the circle surrounding her just in case. Dean never took any chances.

"This doesn't make any sense Dean, She has plenty of times to kill me before, but she didn't... why would she be working for Lucifer? He...He's got something over her.."

"Well yeah no shit, she said something about finding her, who is this her?"

Sam had stopped in his tracks, remembering her saying she was close to finally finding her twin sister. "Unless she meaning her sister, Dean we have to help her."

"I'm sorry HELP her? The same woman who has been playing you for weeks? Who just tried to KILL you, Sam? No, no we aren't helping someone who clearly is working for the wrong side." "Dean, we have to, we both know Lucifer doesn't play fair. He probably promised her that at the end of all of this, she would see her sister again..."

"What are you not telling me, Sam." Dean folded his arms over his chest, he knew his brother well enough to know he was holding something back. "Look, I was just trying to help her, and I thought if I found any information regarding her sister, I could help locate her, but Dean--There is no trace of this woman, not for 24 years..."

"Great so the chick is dead then."

"Dean..."

"What, we both know what that means, she's chasing ghost Sam, be realistic."

Sam turned back towards the glass window in the doorway, he couldn't believe she was working alongside Lucifer, this entire time did she really play him for a fool? This felt similar to what Ruby had done but again different. She had her chances of killing him plenty of times as if she wasn't aware of any of this until recently. Maybe Lucifer knew about them this entire time and was only testing the waters between them. Sam didn't put anything past Lucifer, it was his kind of deadly game.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Tsk Tsk. "You'd know, the twin thing would've been more convincing if she was seriously anything like you," Lucifer spoke out.

The woman slowly came into view as she shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say, she's weak, always has been, and always will be."

To be continued...

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Masterlist

⋰˚☆ requests are Open, to be included in the tags comment below. :)

[˚‧⁺ ･ ˖ · Forever Tags: @lowkeythor]

[leviadraws]

Thoughts/Headcanons for a Danganronpa another 1 and 2 Actor Au? (like how different the actors are to the characters, who's dating who, etc.)

Omg omg omg omg I love actor aus! They’re so wholesome and you all know how much I love the wholesome

This is real long, so it’s below the cut. I'm not really gonna go into ships much as this is long enough already, so feel free to make your own hcs about who likes who. There aren't enough tags available to tag everyone so Imma just say here, there's the full cast of both games.

This is more general shenanigans than headcanons about what they're like?

DRA

No one expected DRA to be a hit, it's low budget and everyone is a nobody except like two people who they splashed the cash on so they could have famous people in trailers.

Utsuro/Maeda's actor is /scarily/ good at what he does. At the drop of a hat and the slightest expression change his whole vibe just changes. If you've ever seen that clip of Skarsgaard informing the director of IT that he can do the lazy eye thing naturally and then the director runs away it's that kinda thing. The rest of the cast are equally impressed and scared by him. Sometimes, he acts like Utsuro when dressed as Maeda and vice versa, just to mess with people. It especially confuses Tsurugi to no end.

So! The two already very famous people. One is Higa, and the other is Yamaguchi.

Working with Higa was, not smooth at all, dude was a total diva so the script was completely rewritten to make him the first killer just so they could get rid of him quickly. Chapter 0 work was done first chronologically, and he seemed to put a decent amount of effort in that, but as time went on he had other bigger projects and just didn't bother to turn up half the time.

He had to wear a bald cap for his execution and the rest of the cast took photos and passed it around. When he left, they all signed a copy as his leaving present.

Kakeru, on the other hand, is a wrestler by trade who wanted to break into acting. He'd asked specifically if the character he played could be the softest ball of softness so he could try something different from his rough and tough wrestlers persona. He's the most cheerful and chatty person you've ever met, provides great hugs, and keeps the break area stocked with donuts.

Additionally, how Kakeru acts in trials is a reference to his wrestling character, it's required by his contract but he really hates it, hence why he's not seen all that much in trials.

He also helped with the stunts throughout the show, being a wrestler he knew a fair bit about landing safely or making a fight look like it hurts. He taught Kanata some throws, and she once threw Haruhiko because he dared her to, it's been caught on camera.

He was a great help to Kinji for their fight scene in chapter 3, there was a lot of practice with wires so that it could look convincing that Kinji was thrown across the room and then the fight with the spear. The prop was actually kinda heavy so that it wouldn't bend mid-swing and Kinji accidentally hit Kakeru pretty hard with it one take, they had to take him to the infirmary. Kakeru just laughed it off and said it was a normal day for him in wresting practice.

Kizuna's acting experience is previously all low budget slasher films, she has a bit of a cult following on the Internet and is known for being the ditzy one that screams the place down when you see the first victim. So she was so hyped to play a meaner character and actively went to the script writer to give her a more gruesome death than was originally planned. In her words, "If there's not blood over all the walls I will be raiding the blood packs myself".

She's /real/ good at being a corpse, she gets makeup to do some gash wounds on her body, gets some blood packs and then leans on one side of a door and waits for someone to open it. Kiyoka's shrieks and wails could be heard throughout the studio. Kizuna felt bad and bought her ice cream to apologise.

Kiyoka doubles as the cameraman, since she's only in two episodes and the original actress bailed on them at the last minute. She's basically the same as her show counterpart, but possibly even more gullible.

Akane loves to play her character a little too much sometimes, she loves flustering Ayame, and post chapter 5 she absolutely loves being as off the wall as possible.

Ayame is big and loud and heart on her sleeve, she really struggles to be more muted for her role in places. She makes sure everyone has enough water and people take breaks. Even when all her filming is wrapped up she still comes in to check in on everyone (and cheers on Akane).

Mikako is a stand up comedian by trade and so being so quiet is actually torturous for her. So she’ll make little comments or crack jokes while remaining in character and it throws everyone through a loop and they all start cracking up. She tag teams with Utsuro/Maeda who has a wonderfully dark sense of humour and will just make quips while playing as maeda.

Rei on the other hand is just like her character, except more quiet and serious rather than rude and serious. She takes the gig very seriously and often makes notes for changes in the script.

Tsurugi is really shy in reality, so when he first breaks out the "psycho cop" at the end of chapter 1 everyone is shook.

Everyone thought Teruya was a huge grump at the start, it turns out that his character's hairstyle requires him to be in hair and makeup for hours and it itches his head like crazy. He hates it so much and it makes him chronically irritable. On days when he's not in filming and can just turn up and watch he just goofs off with the others. He was secretly hoping his character would die really early so he'd stop having to get up at 5am.

Kanata likes to sing, when filming her death in chapter 3 she kept humming the Titanic theme, which genuinely caused Kinji to almost drop her on the floor.

Kakeru got to keep his fake head, they occasionally play hot potato with it.

The girls all swapped dresses after filming for chapter 4 wrapped up. They had this photo taken.

Satsuki and Haru are just big goofs, it took 20 takes for them to take their scene in chapter 4 seriously. For the first five Haru either made his "dying" super exaggerated or started laughing. One time he pretended to be a zombie on the body discovery and jumped Teruya when they opened the door to the armory. They learned that day that Teruya's voice goes glass shatteringly high.

Yamato isn't actually an actor, but rather did all the effects and props. His "mato mato to your heart~" in chapter 5 was actually him having stagefright and just blurting out the first thing that came to mind. Everyone just, died laughing and they decided to keep it.

No one was quite sure how the blood splatter would work in chapter 5, they opted to just throw a bucket of fake blood at Mikako, she was not prepared (or impressed).

It did give her the opportunity to play some pranks tho, she so tall and by this point she'd gotten the art of being quiet to a T so she could just sneak up and looooom until her victim noticed.

Inspired by Kanata, Mikako decided to start singing "I'm dying in your arms tonight" when she collapses on Rei in chapter 5. Everyone thought it was great, until they remembered that Mikako needed to get her hair and blood reset to do the scene again. Cue a three hour wait.

Akane decided to do the same, it became a bit of a running gag to trust fall onto Rei and start singing that, she was not impressed.

SDRA2

The second series rides off the success of the first, they have budget for visual effects and the cast is more well known.

Firstly, the returning cast! Utsuro, Akane, Rei, Tsurugi and Teruya return for filming of the second series. It's been five years and the success of the first series has made them more well known.

Well, except Teruya, who went travelling during the gap so very few people had seem him since the wrap up of season 1. The costume department were distraught to find out that he'd shot up a foot and a half in the mean-time. His costume had to be changed last minute as they scrambled to find something. The hat was his idea, so he could escape the clutches of hair and makeup this time.

Utsuro is actually there just to coach the actor for Yuki, he doesn't look the part anymore but still wanted to help. They become really good friends on set, and have a blast coming up with how Yuki becomes Utsuro in the show. Funnily enough, they don't actually look all that alike on set, Utsuro's hair has gotten a little longer and Yuki is so much paler.

All of Mikado's scenes are filmed without him speaking. He's miming with the green-screen half mask on so they can stitch his face together in post production. They then do his voice recording in a studio with mo-cap so the vfx team have something to base his expressions on. The miming scenes were /really/ hard to get through since someone would start laughing from Mikado miming to a backing track of his own voice. Setsuka or Emma always caved first, and once they were laughing the whole crew broke down.

They used wiring for Teruya's exit in chapter 1, and his coat got stuck in the pully. He was up there for four hours while the rest of the cast went out for dinner.

Yuri's chapter 6 design is a different persons body with his face stuck on it in post production, the rest are simply done with makeup. He had a six foot body double who looked even taller next to 4'11'' Yuri.

The chapter 1 body discovery was one of the hardest scenes to film, the original idea was to drop his stunt double onto a mat from the top of the set but health and safety said no so instead they slowly winch him up and speed it up afterwards. He had to react to invisible wires from sound cues, so to everyone watching it just looked like he was wiggling randomly.

Hajime and shinji had to bulk up quickly for their roles, sometimes they were simply too tired to move after spending so long in the gym over the weekend. Shinji in particular has a weak spot for for comfort food/drinks and gains weight easily, so it was real hard on him to stay as trim as production wanted.

Emma loves to sing, all the time. If she's not singing she's humming. Her and Hibiki actually sing the ending theme together.

Kokoro actually has such difficulty keeping quiet and a blank expression when acting. She hid behind her tablet so much to hide her smiling.

The details of the chapter 3 body discovery were left a surprise to capture some extra shock factor. They had to roll it back a little when people started crying and feeling sick.

Setsuka loved it tho, and started leaving her fake limbs around the set to spook people. She is mostly the same as her character, except more prone to pranking others (mostly Nikei, Hibiki and Iroha) and her humour is a little darker. There is an incredibly well times photo of her pranking Nikei with her fake arm, his expression was priceless

Kanade is one of those actors who the moment they’re on set they fully engross in the character. The moment she steps into the studio her whole vibe changes, she responds to everything like the character, it had the others on edge to begin with. When they're off set she just snaps back to her normal self, even her voice was different!

Her change in trials was kept a secret from the rest of the cast, when it first came out the rest of the cast were silent for a solid five minutes.

Hibiki on the other hand is chronically tired, she downs a super sugary energy drink and then tosses her hands up and yells “hey-heyyy!” To get into character. When she’s not filming she’s napping or completely deadpan.

Chapter 3 was filmed at a real theme park, the cast had to get up super early to get the scenes done while the part was still closed and empty. Sora, Setsuka, Hibiki and Iroha snuck rides in between shooting, while Yoruko watched from the floor (and yelled that they were gonna get in trouble).

Yoruko is a real by the book actor, she's always on time, she doesn't mess around, she's learnt all her lines the moment she's got the script. She hates her costume though, the moment filming stops she goes to change into a lion onesie. She bought Sora a panda one so they can practice scenes together on set.

Syobai is /incredibly/ busy, his eyebags aren't even makeup /lh. He has like five other projects on at the same time and the company paid a ton of money to have him. He takes his job very seriously, arrives, does his parts, and then leaves. He sends incredibly long emails to the script writer about all the things about his character he doesn't like. He was the driving force behind changing his character from the cursed chaper 1 victim to the cynical bastard he is today.

Nikei gets waaay too warm in his costume, and so he's constantly losing his jacket, when in reality Sora is just stealing it constantly to give to Yoruko when she gets cold. It drives him up the wall.

Are you still here? Congrats! I was gonna add more points and some extra doodles to this but I'm feeling a little burnt out atm.

[clumsiestgiantess]

Chapter four of the Other-world Universe; Alexis tries (and fails) at being helpful.

all chapters linked here

[The power of a pile of free cash] The cycle of realities repeated itself yet again, and soon I was bored enough with my own reality to swap worlds.  I was curious to see how the young woman was coming along with the money I'd given her.  Before I got home however, one of my friends stopped me in the hall.  “Are you ok?” they asked me.  Apparently, I seemed rather distracted lately.  “There’s just a lot of things going on at home,” I replied.  It was technically true.  “Don’t worry about it.”  Giving me another concerned look, they told me they would be there if I needed to talk, and I nodded, trying my hardest to focus on them when my mind had already begun to wander through thoughts of the other-world.  Eventually, they sighed and moved on to a different topic as we walked down the hall together.  They'd clearly given up on getting any more information out of me, having already tried a few less conspicuous ways to get something of an answer from me, but obviously I couldn’t tell them the truth.  

When I got home, I immediately dropped my backpack by the basement couch and prepared for another trip to the other-world.  I can always do homework when I get back.  I have all the time I need to do it since this little pit stop will only take a few seconds in my world.  Traversing the lay of the land so many times, I’d pretty much mapped out the easiest and least destructive way to the city.  There was only one slightly sketchy detour I took through a skate park to get to the field behind the young woman's building.  

However, when I returned to her apartment, everything was a mess.  The money had downright vanished; nothing had changed.  Her apartment had apparently been paid off, but the rest of the money was gone.  Or so I thought.  When the young woman returned, she arrived with a fancy new car and outrageously expensive-looking outfit.  I’d just brought her car back to her and now she’d gotten rid of it.  This was definitely NOT what I gave her the money for.  The heck is wrong with you? I mentally asked as she disappeared into her apartment.  You’re supposed to use my money wisely, not blow it all on things you didn’t need!  

Things only got worse from there.  Through various ways of sneaking around, I started following her to find out what she’d done with the rest of my money.  I gave her so much, how could she have possibly spent it all already?  Never underestimate the power of a pile of free cash.  The young woman had visited both the mall and the downtown shopping area by the end of the day.  I was also fairly sure she quit her job, relying entirely on the money I’d so foolishly given her.  I hadn’t seen her go to work at all since I started watching her.  

Every day I watched her, every day she drove herself further into the ground.  I'd even witnessed her steal her ex’s car and have it crushed at a junkyard.  The incident was so baffling that I almost controlled her simply to stop her from doing it.  I suppose I could’ve deemed it an emergency so I could control her without breaking my own rules, but it didn’t matter.  Eventually the money ran out, and she ended up in more debt than she started with.

I wanted to scream, and I did, but in my own world where no one could hear me.  Alright, I calmed myself, this time I’m going to have to change things.  There was still a decent amount of money left in the bank from the space set, and I’d brainstormed a few ideas on how to keep her from wasting it.  Determined to set things straight, I grabbed more tiny bills from the set.  I made sure to only take a reasonable amount of cash, not whatever I could grab like last time.  

The space set was boxed up on the shelf for now, but if Liam ever took it down to play with again, he’d probably wonder where all the money went.  Maybe he’ll just think he lost the pieces.  There were a few other set parts missing, which was why it was left on the shelf to begin with.

My new and improved plan was this: Instead of leaving the young woman on her own with the pile of cash, I’d put the money out and wait right there until she came and found it.  The other steps are a work in progress, but I’ll probably just make them up as I go.  Basically, I’d be monitoring her a lot more closely than just handing thousands of dollars to her and walking away.  I returned to the other-world, money in hand, and made my way back to the apartment, carefully placing the bills into a heap on the floor just like last time.  Then, I waited for the young woman to come home.  

When she finally came back from who knows where, I slid over to the balcony doors to watch.  She’d barely stepped into the apartment before realizing something was off.  Turning the tight corner by the doorway, she walked into the living room and stopped short, staring at the new bills that seemingly appeared from nowhere.  The young woman stepped cautiously over to the pile in a daze.  Slowly, she turned to the balcony.  Oh no, I left the door open!  I quickly backed away from the doorway as she stepped out onto the small metal outreach.  Looking around baffled for a moment, she spoke to the empty alleyway below her.  “I don’t know who keeps doing this or why, but..” she glanced backwards into her apartment, “This better not be a test.. or a bribe.. but thanks.”  Finally, she turned and closed the balcony door behind her, giving me a chance to let out the breath of air I'd been holding.  Soon, she began collecting the money stacked up on the floor.  Don’t thank me yet, I thought smugly.

The young woman stayed in that night, and I waited outside for the morning to come so I could set my plan into motion.  A few ideas had popped up while I sat around waiting for her, and I was eager to try them.  I yawned, suddenly very tired.  I’ve been awake in both worlds for a long time now.  It won't hurt if I rest a while, right?  Just because I’m on a stakeout doesn't mean I can't close my eyes for a bit.  I sidled backwards to the far end of the small field, giving myself another whole foot of room.  Despite the tight space, I was asleep in no time.

I couldn’t really tell how long I’d been out, but I was suddenly woken by something slamming into my side.  A truck had crashed into my leg; its whole front bumper was completely caved in.  My leg must’ve fallen across the road in my sleep.  A man stumbled out of the driver’s seat, and I sleepily backed off, retreating further into the old baseball field.  I waited as a tow truck came and wheeled away the crushed vehicle, while whoever was driving the damaged truck kept complaining that there was nothing he could've possibly hit; the road was completely empty.  Well, at least he knows not to drive back here anymore, I thought sleepily.  I'll be sitting here more often now; maybe it's for the best he learns not to be here.  

The sky was just beginning to fade into the dazzling oranges of early morning, and with so many cars and buildings reflecting its light, it was almost impossible for me to go back to sleep.  So much for getting a good night's rest.  I sat in the field, bored, waiting for something to happen so I could put my plan into action.  Finally, the apartment lights flickered on, and I sidled over to the window excitedly.  Nothing had actually happened yet, she only got up to make a cup of coffee, and afterwards the young woman picked up a few outfits and laid them out, trying to decide between them.  I huffed disappointedly, finding this part of the morning a bit boring, but when she pulled her pajama top over her head, I recoiled away so harshly I nearly fell over backwards.  Though these people and their city were surely fake, they certainly looked real.  I stepped over the building to watch by the street instead.  

As I sat off to the side of the road, I realized I didn't even know the young woman's name.  Controlling a passerby to get close to the building, I managed to read the nameplate next to her room number, which I’d caught in the reflection of a hall mirror.  The name read ‘Erica Anderson’.  Satisfied, I returned to my spot and released the stranger.  Erica drove off a bit later, and I followed her car from a distance, simply because I couldn't get much closer to the city.  Eventually, she parked in a garage connected to one of the fanciest shopping malls I'd seen in the other-world.  Then again, I hadn’t really seen much beyond the city and the mountain range.  What is out there in the rest of this strange world?  I assumed it ended at the end of the table holding it all up in my world, but the highways branching out of the city had to go somewhere.  I'd have to find that out later.  Right then, I had to stop this poor woman from wasting any more of my money.

No way are you spending all of it on clothes and mall stuff, I thought resentfully.  Carefully placing a hand over her, I had her drive to a large city-owned building instead.  A sign outside the door read: Addicted Spenders Therapy Sessions room 105.  It was really a genius plan.  I'd been watching the billboard ads while I was bored, and an advertisement for this lecture popped up, ironically right after an ad for a new line of expensive luxury items like handbags and the like.  I had a feeling the ad placement was somewhat intentional, though.  

I made Erica go to the room and sit in for a class, letting her go right before she entered the building.  Quickly remembering I would no longer be intangible without a person to control, I latched on to someone in an office building nearby.  It was much taller than me, which was a bit unsettling.  Most of the buildings around me were taller than me, and most of the ground beneath me was filled with moving people and cars.  It was all a bit overwhelming and strangely claustrophobic.  I sat literally in the building, having no room elsewhere, letting whoever I had in my control just continue with their work.  Sitting through the steel frame of the building was probably one of the strangest feelings I’d ever had.  The entire building almost seemed like a hologram — a projection of light that wasn’t actually tangible, though really it was me that was the intangible one.

About an hour later, Erica came rushing out of the meeting, looking confusedly up and down the street as if she were unsure how or why she was there.  Apparently my control only lasts so long without me there to keep it running.  By the looks of Erica's confusion, it seemed as though she didn’t even know where she was.  I latched back onto her, releasing the office worker, and internally reminded her that she wanted to go to each session of these classes.  Her confusion slowly seemed to disappear with my assurance.  

There, I thought, that wasn't so hard, was it?  Once everything was set up, I left her to her own devices for a while.  I hadn’t given her nearly as much money as the first time, so later in the week I set her up with a decent job as well.  Since I had no clue what she did prior to when I'd first given her the money, I decided to put her into a simple customer services-type job.  Surely she could manage it.  All she had to do was talk on a phone, how hard could that be?  Alright, this is going well, I don’t think she’ll do anything stupid again, right?

Wrong.  Very wrong.  I left for a few months to deal with things in my own world, however; so I didn’t even know it for a while.  My team won the state volleyball tournament, that was fun.  I failed a math test, that was less fun.  During winter break, my family drove out to an island in our camper van.  For a few blissful days, my life seemed perfect — collecting shells on the beach and riding rollercoasters on the pier by day, lighting bonfires and stargazing by night.  I felt like I was set for life.  Our family loves the beach; I’m surprised we don’t live closer to one.  I made a mental note to find a nice oceanfront whenever I returned to the other-world.  

All good things come to an end though, I suppose.  After a week on the island, it was time to make the return trip home.  It was always a melancholy experience, leaving the beach behind.  The time we spent there was always fun, but the island was so small, there were only so many things to do before you’d done them all.  Back at home, there was now only one little weekend left before break was over.  However, I’d saved the last two days for finishing school assignments, so my break was basically over right then and there.  If only there was a way to stop tomorrow from coming, I thought wryly.  It really was rather nice to have another world all to myself.  

My good mood was instantly shattered when I returned, though.  I found Erica in jail for drunken driving.  She managed to pay off her bail, but the fees left most of her bills unpaid, again.  What do I have to do to get you to be responsible for once?  It’s only been what, a month, I think, since I left?  Erica had also been sentenced to community service, which I overheard her complain about when she arrived home.  

Sitting in the field out behind her building, I thought, again, about how to deal with this.  I was far too invested to give up now.  Maybe if I move her further from the city, she won’t keep getting into these situations in the first place.  I knew Erica wouldn’t like it if I made her randomly move, but it was for her own good, and the job I’d given her would likely allow it.  Even if her boss wouldn’t let her, I could always control them and suggest that they change their mind.  

I decided to search for a house when it got dark, that way less people would be out, and less people would be in my way.  Once the sun set, I began my trip out to the suburbs beyond the city, closer to where I first zapped into the world.  None of the homes really stood out to me, though.  Try as I might, I couldn’t find a good enough house in suburbia; all of them looked almost the same.  

While I was searching through the many cookie cutter homes, I noticed a modern mansion sitting seemingly untouched on top of a cliff overlooking the city.  Whoever owned the mansion was currently selling it for a ridiculous amount of money, but it wasn't that hard to scrounge up enough to easily outbid any other offers with the help of a rich-looking puppet.  It was perfect.  Erica wouldn’t be too compelled to move back to the city if she was living there, and the cliffside allowed me easier access to the house.  The next day, while Erica was out doing her forced community service, I quite literally took things into my own hands.

I got a few movers and a truck to come over and get her things, and watched as they drove everything over to the new place.  It took a while for them to get all the way out to the cliffside, and even longer for them to move everything inside the mansion.  I couldn't even leave and come back because I had to keep all of the movers at least somewhat under my control.  Eventually, the job was done and I released them back to their normal lives.  Realizing how late it was, I rushed back into the city as fast as I could.  I didn’t dare run, knowing I would cause both tremors and destruction if I did.  

Watching the movers had caused me to lose track of time.  When I finally made it back, I saw with a pang of guilt that Erica's car was already out front.  I raced to the back deck and watched as she looked around her empty apartment, devastated.  I opened the balcony to reach in and control her, but before I could do anything, Erica marched out onto her deck and I quickly backed away.   "What the hell?!  I thought you were supposed to be giving me money and helping me out and shit!" she yelled angrily at the field I sat in.  "Is this some kind of punishment for my arrest, because if it is..  Where the hell is my stuff, huh?"  

For a long moment, I sat frozen.  Can she see me?  Erica grumbled and stormed back inside, pacing the length of her now empty apartment.  I realized that she'd addressed 'whoever was doing this' before, when I’d mistakenly given her a hint to where I was.  She didn't actually know that I was there.  All she knew was that the door to the deck was open at the same time money kept appearing.  Still, it was unnerving, like she was actually yelling at me.  

Carefully, I reached through the open patio door again and took control.  I had her go back outside and drive to her new house, walking silently next to her car the whole way.  Since I had her under my control, I no longer had to avoid everything that I could potentially trample.  It was nice being able to walk around without fear of demolishing anything.

When Erica finally pulled up to the small mansion, I released her.  She slowly wandered inside, where she stood speechless, looking over the boxes of her things that had miraculously been moved there.  She found the keys to the house on one of the boxes by the door.  Dazed, Erica stepped out onto the lawn overlooking the cliff, then circled back to her car.  "I don't know if I'm going crazy, or if there's someone or something behind everything that's been happening to me," she mused.  "Maybe this is a secret social experiment or something.  But god, you-  you didn't have to go and get me this."  Shaking her head with a chuckle, Erica looked back over her shoulder at the mansion.  "I really am just going crazy, aren't I?"  She shrugged, “Well, as long as good things keep coming my way, I honestly don’t care how any of this happens.”  Erica stepped back into the new house, and I left her to get settled in.  Maybe, finally, she would change.

I was hesitant to leave Erica alone again, knowing what happened the last few times, so I stayed and watched her for a bit every day.  However, after a few weeks or so, I was getting bored of watching similar things happening daily.  She hadn’t done anything too out of the ordinary while I was there, so eventually I left — confident that this time Erica could handle herself without me.  Every once and a while I’d come back and check on her, but she’d been doing pretty well for a while now, and I was beginning to move on to other things.  About five months had passed since I’d first met Erica, and more than once I thought about showing her the truth.  Where the money came from, who was actually helping her out, but that was an increasingly bad idea the longer I thought through it.  Showing Erica everything would only leave her with way too many questions than she needed answered.

[theworldoffostering]

Kids had a snow day yesterday. We probably got about seven inches. The university did not close so I had several work (virtual) meetings. Yesterday wasn’t bad but I was spent by the end of the day.

This morning was awful. I yelled. Like really yelled at H. Probably more than I ever have in his entire life. Scary yelled. I was in the shower and he told me he was going to scrape the car and shovel the driveway. I said that was fine. He loves to shovel and has made a decent amount of cash for himself by shoveling for people in the neighborhood. When I got out of the shower, we needed to leave to take Baby to school. H was nowhere to be found. The driveway hadn’t been shoveled (we did shovel it 3x yesterday). My car hadn’t been cleared at all. By the time I was putting all of this together, I was trying to clear the car of ice and one of the windshield wiper blades just snapped right off. Then Pumpkin threw up and it had blood in it. I called H 4x and he didn’t pick up at all.

Y’all, I just absolutely lost it when H came back. (He had been with a teen shoveling in our neighborhood and said he just forgot that he said he was going to work on our car and driveway.) I was so scared something had happened to him and completely overwhelmed with the morning. Baby was an hour late to school. I called H and E out to their tutoring while waiting for the vet to call back. Cleaned up the vomit.

I had to apologize profusely to H. I know I scared him. I feel awful. It was like I had zero self-control. I think I scared myself.

We just picked up DH and the teens from the airport, had lunch at Portillos, and eaded home. The vet advised on Pumpkin (I left her in the crate while making the airport run). Really hoping she’s okay.